Bleacher Report - Articles by Ian Tait

Blue Bulls Currie Cup Champions 2009

Ian Tait — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:12:57 -0500

The Blue Bulls must be rated as the best Provincial side in the world. At least in the Southern Hemisphere! The Bulls destroyed the Cheetahs within the first 22 minutes of the final on Saturday, or so they thought, racking up a 24-0 lead with three tries and a drop goal.

However, Free State had other ideas and struck back with two wonderful tries before the end of the first half, setting the fans up for a fantastic game of rugby. Credit must go to the men from the City of Roses, after starting their season with four losses before turning over a new forest to get them into the final.

Loftus was a sea of blue, with the odd splash of orange. Although outnumbered, it seemed that the whole of Bloemfontein was there in P-Town. Again, Morne Steyn dictated the game with his wonderful gift for reading the plays, scoring 21 points.

My man of the match was tight head prop WP Nel from the Cheetahs. Although under immense pressure from some very illegal binding from Guthro Steenkamp, he dominated proceedings in the tight and his play in the lose was fantastic to watch for a fellow front ranker. Mr. Kaplan missed the trick and only pinned Steenkamp in the 63rd minute for illegal binding.

Heinrich Brussouw was again brilliant on the deck, but the loose forward of the day was Pierre Spies. The big No. 8 had his best game of the season and the thought of him and Brussouw running together in Europe is mouth-watering.

The Bulls ran out comfortable winners in the end, 36-24, with three tries apiece.
As is tradition at the end of each final, the controversy of the season begins...the announcement of the Springbok end of season tour team! There were nine new caps—including five players that are not first-choice players for their provinces.

Alistair Hargreaves, the Sharks lock, will only be a first-choice starter for the Sharks from next year. Although, I feel he has been selected for the tour experience and as a possible future Springbok skipper. Chiliboy Ralepelle, the second-choice hooker for the Bulls and dirt trackers skipper, and Bandise Maku, the third-choice hooker, also for the Bulls.

Not to sound racist here, but what gives? If Derrick Kuhn is the Bulls' first-choice hooker, then why is he not in the Boks squad? Heini Adams and Francois Hougaard have also been selected at scrum half, although they both understudy Fourie Du Preez.

One has to feel for hookers like Andriaan Strauss of the Cheetahs and Tiaan Liebenberg from Western Province. Locks like Anton Van Zyl, Stephen Sykes, and especially tight head prop WP Nel. As much as I enjoy Hienke Van Der Merwe, he has been injured all Currie Cup and now PDV wants to turn him into a tight head.

OK, strong men that were born to scrum can make the switch. Earl “Elastoplaster” Rose being selected again makes no sense, along with the choice of Zane Kirshner. I fully agree with the selection of Riaan Viljoen; even though he did play rugby for Durban Varsity at U/20, I thought Joe Peterson was very unlucky not to get the other berth for fullback.

Springbok Touring Team:

Andries Bekker – Lock                                      Western Province
Bakkies Botha – Lock                                 Blue Bulls
Heinrich Brussouw - Flank                                 Cheetahs
Schalk Burger - Flank                                       Western Province
Bismarck du Plessis - Hooker                              Sharks
Jannie du Plessis – Tight Head Prop                    Sharks
Alistair Hargreaves - Lock                                 Sharks
Ashley Johnson – Eighth Man                             Cheetahs
Ryan Kankowski – Eighth Man                            Sharks
Bandise Maku - Hooker                                 Blue Bulls
Victor Matfield – Lock (VC)                               Blue Bulls
Tendai Mtwarira – Tight Head Prop                     Sharks
Dewald Potgieter - Flank                            Blue Bulls
Chiliboy Ralepelle - Hooker                                Blue Bulls
Davon Raubenheimer - Hooker                           Griquas
Danie Rossouw – Lock/Lose Forward               Blue Bulls
John Smit – Tight Head/Hooker (C)             Sharks
Pierre Spies – Eighth Man                              Blue Bulls
Gurthro Steenkamp – Lose Head Prop                  Blue Bulls
Heinke van der Merwe – Lose/Tight Head             Lions
Heini Adams – Scrum Half                              Blue Bulls
Meyer Bosman - Centre                              Cheetahs
Juan de Jongh - Centre                                Western Province
Fourie du Preez – Scrum Half                             Blue Bulls
Jaque Fourie - Centre                              Lions
Francois Hougaard – Scrum Half                         Blue Bulls
Adi Jacobs - Centre                                         Sharks
Zane Kirchner – Full Back                              Blue Bulls
Odwa Ndungane - Wing                              Sharks
Jongi Nokwe - Wing                                         Cheetahs
Wynand Olivier - Centre                                 Blue Bulls
Ruan Pienaar – Fly Half                              Sharks
JP Pietersen - Wing                                         Sharks
Earl Rose – Elastoplaster Man                            Lions
Morne Steyn – Fly Half                             Blue Bulls
Riaan Viljoen – Full Back                                 Griquas

The big question going forward is who will start in the first test against France? One thing is for certain; whoever is selected, somebody will always disagree with the selection. All I can hope for is that we go and kick butt and return unbeaten.

France and Ireland are the two big tests that need to be won. The first game is being played on Friday night again the Leicester Tigers. Then off to France, followed by Saracens, Italy, and Ireland.

New Zealand and Australia started their end of season tour with a Bledisloe Cup test match in Tokyo. Australia suffered their seventh defeat in a row to the All Blacks, going down 32-19 in front of 44,000 fans. The Blacks take on Wales, while the Wallabies take on England this weekend. They should be very interesting games, but I feel that both the Southern Hemisphere teams should pull it off against their hosts.

Until next time, stay fit and enjoy the sport.

Cheers

ONETIME

The Currie Cup Heats Up

Ian Tait — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:23:27 -0400

Sorry abut the delay and long break, but writer block, lack of motivation, whatever you want to call it has been a major problem for me. I was looking for inspiration to write and then it happened. Although not in the way that one would want.

A good friend, work, college, and fanatical sports fan passed away this past week. Husband, father and friend! If there was one flaw that Rob Kruger did have it was that he was the biggest Lions fan that I have ever known.

Last night while all Sharks fans were rooting for Transvaal to beat WP, I somehow just knew that the Lions would pull it off. Call it a great team performance or just Rob throwing his weight around up in heaven it was a fantastic result for all die hard Lions supporters. Rob, my friend, thank you.

So the Currie Cup is at its final stages and four very strong and worthy teams are readying themselves for next Saturday. In the first semi-final, The Sharks take on the Cheetahs at Kings Park. Many would feel that the Sharks with their Springboks should be clear favorite to make the finals, but as all locals know Free State always seems to have the better of the Sharks. It is going to be a cracking game.

Will the Sharks tight five be able to dominate the Cheetahs pack and hence neutralize the loose forwards of Free State? The backs are pretty much even with pace to burn on the wings, however, Pienaar and Hernandez as the 9/10 link might be the ultimate factor and the three quarter domination.

But do watch out for the delay counter-attack of the Cheetahs.

The mighty Blue Bulls travel to Newlands to face Western Provincein the “Old Firm Derby.” On paper the Bulls should smash Province with a better pack and backline also star studded with Springboks.

But if there is one thing that always plays a huge factor, are the partisan Western Province fans and of course the Cape weather. The forecast for Saturday is 26, with South Westerly winds, but no rain. But we all know how quickly the weather changes in the Mother City.

The lock pairing of Botha and Mattfield will be a deciding factor in the lineouts however I feel that the loose forwards battle will be a very interesting one and very evenly matched. Again the 9/10 option for Du Preez and Steyn should de too strong for Province.

If I were a betting man I would predict a repeat of last years final again at Kings Park but as we all know in sport it all comes down to the day.

In the First Division SWD Eagles will travel to Witbank to take on the high flying Pumas in the Final on Friday night. The Puma are clear favorites to take the Cup. Although SWD have a formidable pack and a very strong 9/10 and 12 they will come up against an extremely strong defense of the Pumas. Do yourselves all a favor watch the game on Friday night; it is going to be a cracker.

Kick off Times for the Weekend:

16 October 2009 Pumas Vs Eagles 19H00 Witbank
17 October 2009 Sharks Vs Cheetahs 14H30 Durban
17 October 2009 WP Vs Blue Bulls 17H00 Cape Town

Until next week, take care and enjoy the rugby.

OneTime

Springboks Crush New Zealand

Ian Tait — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:36:35 -0400

Okay, so I have been in hiding. Call it a lack of inspiration, or just being plain lazy.

What has happened over the past few weeks?

Well, a lot did.

The Lions toured South Africa and lost, although they can take pride in a convincing victory in their third test.

In Durban and Pretoria, the Springboks outplayed the Lions, but silly substitutions and team selections put the Boks under a huge amount of pressure, and Peter De Villiers almost successfully threw away the series.

But alas for the Lions, the World Champions had something else in store.

One thing is clear: The Springboks need forwards like John Smith, Bakkies Botha and Heinrich Brussow to start and play for the rest of the season.

The center combination of De Villiers and Fourie is unmatched anywhere in the world, and young Francois Steyn must always play at full back.

Simply put, if Grey College thought he was a full back, South African rugby should sit up and take note.

Well, on to the Tri Nations.

Australia started like a team possessed in Auckland, but faulted in the second half.

New Zealand was always going to struggle in Bloemfontein, and that they did. Ruan Pienaar, despite missing a few kicks, dominated the three quarters. Before leaving the field, he had the Boks set up for a large victory over the Blacks.

Along to Durban comes Morne Steyn, who is my first choice for fly half for the Springboks. After scoring all 31 points for South Africa, he looks set to be on the bench for the Australian test in Cape Town.

"Why?" you may ask, and again, I can only comment on what PDV said at breakfast on Friday morning:

If Ruan was fit, he would play. If Schalk was available, he would play over Brussow, and if he could, Januaries would play every time for the Boks.

This is a statement that Peter will stick to. And being a strong-willed, little man, I think he will stick to his guns. What this means to South African rugby is simple: Lose Dick Muir and Gary Gold, and you will lose the best test team in the world.

"Window dressing" is something we as South Africans have learned to do well over the year, from the lies of the old National Party to that of today’s current government.

Rugby is currently doing very well in South Africa. Our Currie Cup is doing well, our schools are doing very well, and even our Varsity Cup is a fantastic tournament and has already produced some Currie Cup players this season.

But certain political fronts demanding that eight players of colour need to be in the starting lineup for the Currie Cup is crazy. Every player of colour that has been represented by the Sharks, Bulls, Lions, and so forth are there on merit. They are the best in the province in that position.

It is time for the politicians to stay out of sport and let the players and coaches go ahead and play rugby.

But enough of my little whine for the week, and on to something worthy of special mention:

Springbok Captain John Smit capped 85 times for the Springboks and 60 times as captain (A world record for a forward). He won the Tri-Nations, World Cup Jr . and Sr., and Lions' Tour.

The only thing missing is a Grand Slam tour victory. To John, well done!

On the local Currie Cup scene, there is only one team at the moment, the Wildeklawer Griquas. They have beaten everyone they have faced, including Free State, The Bulls, and The Lions.

Western Province is lying second on the log on points difference with Sharks, and in fourth place lies the Bulls. The only upside for the Bulls and Sharks is that when the Springboks return, the rest of the teams will be blown away.

But this is a long competition and the Boks will still be away for another six weeks, so they will only return in the second round of the Currie Cup. So the weaker side must make hay while they can.

On to the Newlands' test on Saturday:

How are the two teams going to approach the game?

The Australian team seems to think that the Kiwis tried to stay away from the Bok forwards by spreading the ball wide on almost every occasion they could.

Robbie Deans, who will join the team later this week after dealing with the recent loss of his father, knows that the only way to give his deadly backs the advantage is by neutralising the Boks' strengths, namely, the lineouts and the scrums.

They will target Beast and our lineout. If they're successful, they will unleash Mortlock, Barns, and Giteau on our backs.

One very interesting battle will be that of the fetchers Brussow and Smith. I, for one, will be watching this with intense pleasure. For young Heinrich, this will be his biggest challenge of his test career.

The centers' battle should be another cracker, but hopefully if the ball can get to the backline without too much tactical kicking, we might just have an amazing game of running rugby.

To the Tait clan in Grahamstown and Cape Town, have a blast at the game, and may it be a better test than the one we saw last year in Durban.

I will have more news next time on the English Premier League that kicks off on Aug. 15. I'll include interesting bits on transfers, and what the pundit’s reckon their crystal balls predict.

I'll provide news on the ashes, after the draw in the third test.

And of course, the talking point in motorsport: the return of the greatest driver of all time, Micheal Schumarker.

Until next time,

Cheers

OneTime

Lucky Boks Down The Lions

Ian Tait — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:23:43 -0400

“Lions, Lions, Lions” Erupted from a sea of red! Fifteen thousand plus British and Irish Lions fans called to arms.

After five minutes Captain John Smit crossed over for South Africa’s first try. The Green and Gold rose to the challenge and sang out “Why are you so quiet?”

To say that the Springboks had mauled the Lions in the first half was an under-statement. Up until the replacements came in that is. Why, when you are in total domination of the scrums, would you pull off your two props? The fact that the Sharks front row and the Bulls second row were so strong also proves the two provinces' dominance in the Super 14 this season was no fluke. Bekker was lost and Januaries, who, can’t even make the Western Province A side, was pathetic. If Peter De Villiers thinks he needs to pick Januaries because of colour, then he may as well call up Hiennie Adams who is a far better and more intelligent player.

I have made that error before, thinking the game is won and brought on substitutions only to disrupt the team and lose the game. De Villiers should have known better. The Lions selection also raised some eye brows. No Adam Jones and Mathew Rees to start in the front row. The Lions did concede three penalties in the first half for illegal binding and according to Graham Rowntree, the scrum coach of the Lions, they had no answer to the strength of the Bok front row. As long as there are no injuries to our current starting front three, we will dominate the series. Steenkamp and Carstens did not make the grade when they came on. This is worrying.

The All Blacks managed to secure a victory against France yesterday to tie the two game series. After losing 27-22 last week to a very impressive young French side in Dunedin, the Blacks came out with a point to prove. They were far from convincing and don’t be surprised if they don’t do well in the Tri-Nations. Australia was too strong for the Italians who again went down 34-12. Italy plays New Zealand next week and is sure to get another thrashing.

In the World Cup T20 South Africa choked again. They just don’t seem to have the mental nerve to make it into a final. After going through the tournament unbeaten they only had to beat Pakistanto go through to the final. They ended up seven runs short. Sri-Lanka was too strong for the West Indies in the other semi-final, making them the only unbeaten team of the series. However, this was not good enough as Pakistan took the trophy.

Bafana-Bafana have made it through to the Confederation Cup Semi Final. The tournament has been a great success to date and will only bode well for the World Cup next year. Spain won the 15th consecutive game yesterday when they beat South Africa 2-0. South Africa looks like they will play Brazil in the Semi Final and Spain will play either Egypt or Italy, depending on tonight’s results after Egypt beat Italy mid-week.

So hopefully next week when writing this report, the Springboks would have won the Series and the US Open golf would have been completed. The amount of rain that has fallen on the course has been amazing. It was so disruptive, even Ernie Else could not make the cut. Tiger Woods is 12 strokes off the PGA rookie Ricky Barnes who was on -8 after two rounds. The third round should be completed today and the final round hopefully on Monday.

Until next time, take care, keep fit, and enjoy the sport.

Cheers.

Onetime.

Rampaging Bulls Super 14 Champions

Ian Tait — Sun, 31 May 2009 15:40:47 -0400

What a fantastic display of rugby! Yes, the Super 14 final for 2009 was a lesson in how rugby should be played.

The Chiefs started off well and were worthy finalists. The Bulls however, are even better and are worthy champions. Any coach or player that wants to learn how to play rugby, get a copy of the game.

The 44 points is the biggest win margin in the history of the finals, with the Bulls winning 61-17.

Loftus was a sea of Bull and I am sure that the parties carried on until sunrise today. Anyway to the Bulls, I salute you; well done on a great Super 14.

The Springboks 7-a-side are champions on the world tonight. And although they lost to Fiji 20-19 in the final, the points they had gathered through the season was too great for any other nation to make up.

Fiji came second and England third. Paul Treu and his charges will certainly believe that the effort and dedication that was put into the pre-season paid off handsomely.

The British Lions started off their 2009 tour of South Africa with a strong comeback win against a Royal XV in Rustenburg on Saturday. They had to come from behind to win 25-37 while trailing with 15 minutes to go.

Yes, one can not read much into the opening game of the tour, but a mouth watering encounter is set for the first test in Durban.

The Boks that played in Windhoek against a Namibian XV came off with a solid 37-7 win. The win was laboured, but it was to be expected, given that it was a squad team playing.

What would your side be for the Lions? My side has changed some since the last one I put out. Let me know what you think.

Beast Mtararirwa
BismarckDu Plessis
John Smit (Captain)
Bakkies Botha
Victor Mattfield
Schalk Burger
Juan Smith
Pierre Spies
Fourie Du Preez
Morne Steyn
Brain Habana
Jean De Villiers
Jacques Fourie
JP Petersen
Ruan Pienaar

Why Ruan at Full back, well at the moment if Peter De Villiers cannot see the value of playing the best Fullback in South Africa in Stephan Terblanche, he will have no other option.

Earl Rose would not even be selected in my Varsity third side and the thought of him putting on a Springbok jersey would annoy me more than if Luke Watson was ever recalled.

Steyn at first five eight is a no brainer, but then again this is the Springbok selectors we are talking about and who knows what political pressure would be put on them in selecting the “right” team.

I must say it was very satisfying to see Terrie Henry see his dream come true, finally getting his hands on the European Cup with Barcelona beating Manchester Untied 2-0 in Rome.

Barcelona were incredible making United look like some practice team. Anyway United will still be happy with the English Title.

Chelsea won the FA Cup beating Everton 2-1. Good news for all Bafana fans was that Steven Pienaar played a full 90 minutes and he should be fine for the Confederation Cup. On the Scottish side, go Rangers you beauties.

They took the Double in beating Falkirk 1-0 in the Scottish Cup and them taking the title away from Celtic.

With the soccer and rugby leagues over it is now onto the international scene. Confederation Cup starts on June 14 with SA taking on Iraq.

The World Cricket T20 starts in England on the fifth of this month. The Lions Tour has started and of course the French Open is in full swing. There is plenty to see for everyone.

Until next week, have fun, take care.

Cheers

Onetime

Bulls Take Top Spot In The Super 14

Ian Tait — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:55:19 -0400

Well the semi finals will be upon us in less than 5 days time and the Sharks have only got themselves to blame for not being there. Ten Points would have been more than enough to have ended in 1st place.

The Reds, Cheetahs and Crusaders are all games that the Sharks should have won. But leaving it to the last game and it was the best game of rugby the whole super 14 was too little to late. The Bulls however are in big trouble with both their top centers out of the game for Saturday.

Olivier is injured and JP (Idiot) Nel is banned for 4 weeks. Once again the Bulls show that the only way they know is dirty. To beat a team you need to beat the opposition. The Crusaders will exploit the midfield on Saturday and to say I won’t be sad to see the Bulls out is neither here nor there.

The first semi final is going to be the better of the two games. I think the Chiefs and the Hurricanes are playing the best rugby in the Super 14 and they technically should be playing in the Final. Picking a winner out these two will be hard. The Chiefs have home ground advantage, but the Canes have a better midfield and tight five.

I think however the Canes will pull this one off, for a home final against the Crusaders, to have a repeat of the Air New Zealand Cup last year. The rest of the South African sides ended badly. Stormers ended in 10th, the Lions in 12th and the Cheetahs stone last in 14th.

The fact that SARU wants to pull out of the Super 14 at the end of next year is understandable. There are only two teams that are actually worthy of play in the Super 14 the Bulls and Sharks. SANZA want to include more teams to expand the tournament to bring in more money.

They do however want to change the timing of the tournament and this will not suit SARU as they don’t want to undermine the Currie Cup. The facts are simple; we have a poor record in Super Rugby.

Only the Lions and the Bulls have ever won it since 1996. The Cheetah’s and the Lions just don’t stand up to the competition. The Queensland Reds are in the same boat as they have been very poor over the last 5 seasons. Maybe what we should be doing is reducing the tournament to the top 12 sides in SANZA with the top two teams qualifying for home semi finals and team 3 to 6 play off in a quarter final before the winners take on teams 1 and 2.

This might spice up the competition and give some teams the inspiration they need to play harder for that semi final position. The fact that the top 2 sides get an extra weeks rest will work wonders for resting their tiered bodies for those big semi finals. The soccer season in South Africa is over and congratulations must go to Gavin Hunt’s Super Sort United for clinching their second championship in a row.

Pirates and Chiefs came second and third respectively. In England Manchester United won their 3rd title in a row and have equaled Liverpool’s 18 titles. If anybody had any doubt about whom, the best football side is in the world look no further than the Red Devils. Liverpool will end 2nd with Chelsea 3rd and Arsenal 4th.

Who will be relegated is still close and we will know by this time next week. In F-1 it looks like the idiots that run F-1 is about to through the greatest motorsport championship on the planet into complete turmoil.

They want to cap the testing and operational budget at 40 million pounds. Ferrari and Renault said that they will pull out of F-1, Ferrari is F-1 over 40% off all fans that go to the European race are Ferrari fanatics and the just over 30% in the rest of the world. As it is the gate takings are down because to the world economic climate.

BMW and Toyota and also started to make waves because they recon that reducing research and development at F-1 level will increase it for their normal day to day R&D. Frankly I would not watch a F-1 race without Ferrari, I would not care. It would be like England playing France in a world Cup Rugby Final.

The IPL is moving towards the Finals and the Deli Daredevils, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challenges and Deccan Charges look like the teams that will make it to the play offs. The final will be played up in Jo’burg and if the weather is anything like it was in Bloemfontein on Sunday then they are going to be in for a though time.

The cricket better be hot. Good luck to all of you that will be running from PMB to Durban on Sunday. I hopefully will be joining you next year in the 2010 Comrades to do my first up run. I will be watching with a cold beer in hand and holding thumbs.

Enjoy it. Cheers till next week. OneTime.

Ricky Hatton KO'd in the Second Round (Plus Other Sports)

Ian Tait — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:53:00 -0400

It was not what I would call pretty. In fact it was exceptionally disappointing. The fact that this was my first Super 14 game of the year and purely because I have been busy with club commitments.

The fact that a professional rugby team like the Sharks knocked on about 12 times in the first half, besides the forward passes that went along, one cannot understand how a team goes from being the best to being a very ordinary side in the space of 5 weeks.

The fact that my mate Philip Bosch who fortunately has no rugby relationship to that great Springbok Gerald and the bully boy tactic from Craig Joubert trying to fix up his mistake from the week before by not issuing a Red Card and then getting it horrible wrong with a slap and he called it a punch, just added to the crowd's frustration.

All in all, it was a shocker and if the Sharks think that this brand of rugby is going to win them the Super 14 this year, they are in for a horrid nightmare, when they wake up and are not even in the play-offs.

There was some encouraging news, Steyn left the field with an injury and looks set to miss next week's game. Ruan Pienaar was back and looked good and fresh.

Andries Strauss and Riaan Swanepoel linked very well together and it was great to see Jean Deysel back. The Sharks ran out eventual winners 23-15. But at what cost?

If found guilty, the mandatory sentence for a Red Card in 3 weeks and it looks like Kockott has “Roostered it up,” meaning he will miss all games including the Semi Finals.

The young center from the Highlanders, Daniel Bowden has been given a one-game suspension for his dangerous tackle on Riaan Swanepoel.

The Hurricanes were fantastic again this weekend dispatching the Blues 45-27. They must have the best center combination in the Super 14 and don’t be surprised if they are the Blacks combo for the Tri-Nations.

The Lions lost to the Crusaders as that was to be expected as they had just returned home from tour. The Cheetah’s nearly pulled off another win this season but just ran out of options against the Tah’s losing 10-18.

The Brumbies thumped the Reds 52-13 in Brisbane in what was a very one-sided affair. The Western Force almost caused an upset in Pretoria but went down 32-29 to the Bulls, in what was a very entertaining game of rugby.

Then the Stormers had the last game of the weekend and a perfect opportunity to restore some pride and started well enough to go 7-0 up against the Chiefs, but did no South African team any favours by losing 28-14 and handing the Chiefs a forth try bonus point. No wonder Jean De Villiers is thinking of playing overseas next year.

In Heineken Cup Action this weekend, a world record was set for crowd attendance to a club game. 82,208 spectators attending the semi-final between Leinster and defending champions Munster in an all-Irish clash.

Leinster convincingly beat Munster 25-6. In the other Semi final, Leicester drew 26-26 with Cardiff to produce the first ever “Shoot Out” in Heineken Cup history.

This eventually went Leicester favour 7-6. The Final will be played in Murray on May 23.

On the football front the biggest derby in Africa took place on Saturday, between Orlando Pirate and Kaizer Chiefs at Ellis Park, in the first real big test of the stadium before the Confederation Cup.

Some of you may remember the 72 spectators that where killed at Ellis Park the last time these to giants of Africa football played each other at this same venue a couple of years back.

Well, the ground held out well to the 60,000 capacity crowd and by all account from SAFA, the stadium passed with flying colours.

Manchester United need just seven more points to clinch their third successive league title with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough, who look set for relegation this season.

Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-0 to send them close to relegation and what a sad day that would be to have the once mighty Magpies playing in the first division.

Arsenal where to strong for Pompie beating then 3-0 away and Chelsea beat Fulham 3-1 at home, with the season almost done it looks like the log will finish as follows:

Manchester United
Liverpool
Chelsea
Arsenal

With Newcastle, Middlesbrough, and West Brom going down. Birmingham City will be back into the Premiership next year along with the possibility on Norwich City.

On the boxing scene, Ricky Hatton got a snot klap from Manny Pacquiao on Sunday morning local time. Ricky did not even last two rounds from a boxer who has been rated as the best pound-for-pound boxer since Roberto Duran.

His hand speed was amazing but the power with which the southpaw stuck Hatton with a right hook was incredible. The Pom went night, night but managed to walk out of the ring on his own feet a few minutes later.

It was a great fight, but I think that this should signal the end to Hatton’s career. Pacquiao might have a fight lined up with Floyd Mayweather, but the exact details are still speculation at present.

The IPL as mentioned last week has taken off at a rate of knots. The amount of people going to each game of the past 14 week period must be double of all the spectators that have been to cricket all season, including the Internationals played in South Africa.

The Deccan Charges are top of the IPL, followed by the Kings XI Punjab. The surprise team is the Royal Challengers and with Kallis coming into form, they could be really hard to beat.

Last year's team the Royals are not doing too well and they are not likely to make the playoffs. The IPL has restored the entertainment factor of cricket with the South African public and hopefully this will bode well for future tournaments to be played in South Africa.

Until next week, may the sports be with you. May Barcelona and Arsenal progress to the Champions league final, may Newcastle find form and win the rest of their matches to prevent themselves from going down, may Ernie Els win something even if it is cake from a lucky draw and may we go a whole game 80 minutes of rugby without having to swear at a referee for being an idiot or a player for being a bigger one.

Cheers

Onetime

Recaps of Rugby, Soccer, Cricket, and F1

Ian Tait — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:47:50 -0400

Firstly, I would like to apologize for missing last week. I went away to Underberg for a trout fishing competition.

Rugby

The Super 14 this past weekend has had a whole lot of surprises. The Cheetahs pulled off a Hail Mary and beat the Crusaders 22-10. Nobody saw that coming.

The Stormers had no wins throughout the tour and pulled off a fantastic win without Captain Marvell Juan De Villiers. They beat the Highlanders 11-18 in Dunedin.

The Hurricanes look to be in fine form for a semifinal finish by thumping the Brumbies 56-7. It was a fantastic display of rugby.

The Reds caused the weekend's other upset by beating their opponents 24-31 in a game that was sewn up 10 minutes into the second half.

The Lions got blown away by the Western Force in Perth, getting thumped 55-14.

In a top-of-the-table clash, the Bulls beat the Chiefs 33-27 in a close encounter in Pretoria.

The results leave the top six still in close contention with all teams having played 10 games.

The Canes are on top with 34 points, followed by the Bulls on 33, the Chiefs on 32, and the Sharks on 31. The Blues have 30 and even the Western Force, at 28, have a chance.

For my Sharks to ensure a home semifinal, they will need to take 15 points from their last three games. Bonus points look like it will come back to haunt the Sharks. The Sharks take on the Highlanders, the Tahs, and the Bulls, all at home.

The Canes play the Blues at home, then the Chiefs away, followed by the Reds away.

The Chiefs play the Stormers away, the Canes at home, and then the Brumbies at home.

The Bulls have the Western Force, the Cheetahs at home, and the Sharks away.

It is going to be very close to call, but a betting man should go Hanes, Bulls, Chiefs, and Sharks for the semifinals.

Soccer

Firstly, the Liverpool Arsenal game on Tuesday night must go down as one of the best games in the 11 year history of the English premiership. 4-4 was the final scores but, with the score at 3-3 in injury time, these two giants of the game just revived the faith of any soccer fan who thought that the game was getting boring.

Manchester United pulled off the great train robbery by coming from a 2-0 half time deficit to thump Tottenham Hot Spurs 5-2 at Old Trafford. United are still three points clear at the top and should now be considered the title champions for this season. Liverpool and Chelsea will take the next two places and Arsenal seem sure to be in the fourth spot.

The local soccer scene saw the Pirates drop two points to log leader Super Sport in a 1-1 draw. Although Pirates had their chances, they were their own worst enemies by not capitalising.

Chiefs are still in third place but behind on goal difference.

Bay United from PE look like they will be knocked back down to the first division. Bloem, Celtic, and Thanda Royal are also in the bottom three and winning results is the only thing that could save these two side.

Cricket

The DFL IPL Pro 20 Series has started in South Africa and, judging by the crowds and response from the public, it is a great success. England will not be happy with Andrew Flintoff doing in a knee, as he will spend the next five weeks out of action. Ab De Villiers thumped a 105 not out of 54 balls on Wednesday and Mathew Hayden looks like he has never left professional cricket. Last year, champions were not doing well, but it is still early. This is just what South African cricket required to inject some life into it. With the World Cup Pro 20 within a few months, packed stadiums will be the order of the day.

Formula 1

F1 has been turned upside down. The team that was nowhere last year won three of the first four Grand Prix. Jenson Button took it for the third time on Sunday. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton came in fourth and Ferrari picked up their fist points of the season with Kimi Räikkönen finishing sixth.

Both McLaren and Ferrari will have new packages in Spain in two weeks time. I don’t think that this can come soon enough for what should be the top two teams this year.

But, to Ross Braun and his team, kudos to you.

Cheers

Sharks Throw Away Prefect Opportunity To Secure Top Spot.

Ian Tait — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:44:00 -0400

Well it was a game that should have been won by the Sharks. It was a five point freebie, but instead of it going to the log leaders, the wooden spooners took them all.

It was shocking and disappointing from a Sharks supporter point of view. However, as a young boy the Free State was my rugby team. The White Tornado as they were known by and although they were always top four finishes they never quite lived up to their potential.

So nothing has changed in the 25 odd years that I used to support them. It has also shown the potential that the Cheetahs have shown all year. A pity for them that they player their Cup Final this past weekend. For the Sharks however, I am glad that I am not on the training field this week.

I am also glad that I am not the Crusaders, playing the Sharks on Saturday. They are going to be in for a torrid time! The Cheetahs ran out deserved winner 31-6.

The Bulls thumped the Tah’s in Sydney and ran out 20-6 winners. Although they will by without Victor Mattfield this weekend, they should have enough in the engine room to take on the Brumbies.

The Stormers lost to the Brumbies, but it was a game that should have been won by the South African side. On paper this team is one of the best in the Super 14 but for some reason they just can’t turn it on. The Brumbies won 17-10.

The Highlanders carried on with their winning ways beating the Red 24-19. The Lions crashed to the Blues 36-12 and the Force lost at home 27-28. This result was vital to the Canes hopes of securing a home semi final.

The Log is tight. The Sharks top the log with 30 points, followed by the Chiefs, Bulls and Waratahs on 27 although the Bulls and Chiefs both have a game in hand. The Canes are on 24 points also with a game in hand lying in fifth place.

What will Peter De Villiers be looking for in his Springbok team to face the British Lions? I am not the team selector but an avid fan and I have a team in mind, to face the Lions:

Beast Mtararirwa
Bismarck Du Plessis
John Smit (Captain)
Bakkies Botha
Victor Mattfield
Schalk Burger
Juan Smith
Pier Spies
Fourie Du Preez
Butch James
JP Pietersen
Juan De Villiers
AD Jacobs
Jacques Fourie
Stephan Terblanche

As always this type of selection will cause points of discussion amongst my readers and I welcome all views and comments. I would like to see what the readers come up with.

On the local club scene, College Rovers are the favorite to win the KZN premiership and ran out comfortable winner away to Jaguars 42-15. Collegians and Old Boys played to an exciting 24 all draw. Harlequins went down 16-10 at home to The Rhino’s and PMB Varsity lost at home to Crusaders 3-18.

In the First Division Toti ran out deserved winner against my side Durban Varsity 39-6. Although to be fair, we did hand the game to Toti in the first half by allowing them to score 32 points.

This proved a mountain too high to climb to have a chance in coming back into the match. The only score in the second half was a penalty try on full time (sic). The secret to rugby and my mentor and the opposition coach of Toti always says that rugby is a basic game.

Stick to the basics, do it right and most importantly play for 80 minutes and the results will come your way. I can’t agree with Jeff more, it is a simple game and after playing the best side in the first division one can only say that any team that wants to beat this side this season, they better have their ducks in a row, because Toti is hot.

As for my side, I was proud of the way they came back in the second half and if they play rugby at such an intense pace for a full 80 minutes, they will win a whole lot more game than they will lose. Hillcrest had a very good win away to PMB Collegians 16-35. SCW had a walkover against Ballito and Wentworth had a shock victory over PMB Waratahs.

In other sport, big Kudos’ must go to Angel Cabrera for winning the US Masters on Sunday on the second play off hole against Americas Kenny Perry.

The Proteas have secured the ODI series against Australia by winning the fourth ODI in PE today. Manchester United are still on top on the English premier league. Liverpool look set to be knocked out of the Champions league after being thumped and home 3-1 to Chelsea.

Man U and Arsenal both drew their games although Manchester travel to Porto with two away goals against them. Arsenal go home with an away goal to their favor. In the other quarter final Barcelona drilled Bayern Munich 4-0 which included the 50^th champion’s league goal by Terrie Henry.

Until next week, I will love and leave you, to enjoy the short working week. Have a good one and remember when you play, play hard, but have fun doing it.

Take Care

OneTime

Sharks Blow Hurricanes Away

Ian Tait — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:05:14 -0400

It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of Brumbies lock Shawn Mackay, who passed away this morning after being knocked over by a car last Sunday morning.

He was 26 years old. I am not going to dwell too much on the Super 14 this weekend, as I did not get to see too much of it except for the Sharks game, as we traveled to Kokstad to play club rugby.

The South African sides did not fair to well, with only the Sharks keeping the nations flag flying high. The Bulls played well, and in the bits that I saw on Friday, they were more than a match for the Crusaders, going down 16-13.

Although there were passages of play that they did well, the fact that the Crusaders scrum was so powerful did not help the Bulls cause. The Western Force, for want of a better word, thumped the Reds, 39-7.

The Force dominated, and the pace of their three quarters proved just too much for the Reds. On Saturday, the Lions seemed to be heading for the upset on the season, but then it happened. South African teams forget that a game of rugby is 80 minutes long.

The Chiefs fought back to win comfortably in the end, 36-29. Hopefully the Lions will learn from this and win next week, then again we can wish.

The Waratha’s vs. the Stormers was not a great game. In fact, I heard that many a Stormers fan fell asleep watching the game. 12-6… not an exciting score line.

The Cheetahs went down again, losing to a Brumbies team that was playing for their gravely ill brother in arms stood little chance, losing 27-40. There will certainly be a lot of passion and emotion at the Brumbies next home game.

Onto the Sharks. It was always going to be the game of the weekend, and it certainly did not leave anybody in doubt that it was. The Sharks beat the Canes, 33-17, and although many in the “know” reckon the Sharks were lucky, I disagree.

They played structured rugby, stuck to the basics, tackled like Trojans. Frans Steyn played very well at 10, and was powerful with ball in hand, but the fact that the Sharks forwards dominated, set the platform for the backs to run wild.

John Plumtree will now need to keep his charges feet firmly on the ground when they travel to Bloemfontein on Saturday. The table is still very open, and even Canes on 20 points with a game in hand is still very well set for a home Semi-Final.

Onto club rugby and a bug bear of mine! Where is the support in the National and Provincial structures for club rugby? Now, I am not saying that the Sharks Rugby Union do not look after the premier league clubs, the millions that get pumped into these teams is great. It also helps these clubs with their junior structures as the money attracts the youngsters to their clubs.

The other great thing for these clubs is the fact that the majority of the Academy players only play for the top club sides. However, if a team like Rover drills the Crusaders 91-0 in a Frank Norris u/20 A game, questions need to be asked about how players get distributed to the clubs.

Out of 350 registered Academy students, why do less than 100 play club rugby? Why are the surplus players not sent to the junior clubs, to play rugby and assist with development of the game? As I said, we were down in Kokstad this Saturday, and every year they seem to be struggling more and more with the support of their club—not in the lacking of players, but in the support of the club, spectators, sponsors, assistance with coaches.

SARU spend millions of rand every year in development of rugby, grass root levels bring young players of colour through trying to teach them what this great game is all about. They get to go to rugby schools. Some of them excel, Some get chosen for provincial and even national school representative sides. Some on merit, and Some because the government says you need to select them.

The problem here is that once they leave school, they go back home to where they grew up. In many cases, this is back to a farm, no running water, no electricity, and the prospect of finding work being so slim, playing rugby is not top of their agenda. The administrators and government need to look to the clubs and assist them by getting the corporates involved in sponsorship—money that could be used toward developing the rugby clubs.

Kit is expensive. Equipment like tackle bags, cones, rugby balls, even a field to train on is a luxury at many clubs. Money is often thrown at “development,” and given to club administrators with no accountability for what is done with it.

Why not, instead of giving this money to the clubs, employ representatives to work for the clubs and making them responsible in assisting the club committees to run these clubs, and develop the rugby in each community.

Set measurable targets. If you have a major sponsor, like say, Huntsman in Amanzimtoti, and make them the custodians of Toti Rugby Club or SAPREF the custodians of Wentworth Rugby Club, you would have a win-win situation for both parties.

The Clubs would have a fixed budgeted amount of money that they would be assured of from the company, and spending would only happen on the agreement of both parties. Say new rugby balls, kit, and after game kit for the players and feeding program. Companies could start trainee apprentice programs for school leavers that are talented in rugby.

So not only do they get to learn a trade and become economically independent, they also get the opportunity to carry on playing a game that they love. Hence, these players are not lost to rugby once out of school.

The big draw card for the companies, besides free advertising for themselves in the area and media, is that they also get tax relief from government. Yes, there will always be detractors saying how a rugby club committee and a corporate sponsor will be able to work together when you use the company’s money.

Well, this is never going to be easy, but if the ground rules are laid out properly and is mutually agreed upon by both parties, and also the union and government, it should make life a lot easier.

We all know just how difficult the economic times are right now, and how hard it is to find sponsors, but something like this would help club rugby so much. Imagine if junior clubs could field six teams every weekend.

Imagine if towns like Kokstad, Richards Bay, Pietermaritzburg, Port Shepstone, Ladysmith and Newcastle had rugby teams that could compete with the Rovers, Collegians and Harlequins of this world.

We have very good school structure in KZN; we have world class tertiary institutions in this province, rugby clubs with long and proud traditions and a Sharks rugby team that is flying high. If your provincial goal is to be the best in the country, even the world, you need to develop local talent and you need to sustain the talent.

Only if you have collective buy in the whole community would you see success of this type of plan. It is nice to dream, but it is achievable, and only if everybody works together towards the same goal will this work. Make rugby the winner! Until next week! Stay fit have a safe Easter. Onetime.

Sharks Take Top Spot

Ian Tait — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:04:23 -0400

What a great weekend of rugby. The Highlanders finally pull off a win over the big guns and the Chiefs carried on with their awesome running rugby. The Hurricanes came from behind to beat the Lions in Ellis Park while the Sharks where devastating in savaging the Brumbies.

The Bulls were caught sleeping on Friday and very much like the Sharks, Reds game the result was always going to go to the home team. Let’s be honest the Bulls are a great team and should never have lots to the Highlanders.

However the Highlanders player very well, scrummed like trogons and ran out deserved winners 36-12. The Crusaders beat the Stormers 11-7 in what was a very tough game of rugby. Not pretty rugby, but good rugby.

The last three games of the weekend was certainly the better games of the weekend and the Chiefs were fantastic and even the Reds came to the party with some good tries themselves. Although the game was over in the first half it was still great to watch. The Chiefs have now won four games in a row and are looking very good for a top 4 finish. Final score 26-50!

The Lions came very close to a fantastic win over the much fancied Hurricanes, in the game of the weekend they just lost at home 32-38. They did however walk away with two valuable bonus points. But big ups have to go to the Canes for the way they came from behind to gain a very important win on tour. This will certainly not make life easier for the Sharks next weekend.

The Sharks were sublime on Saturday. Although they did let in two soft tries the Brumbies were never in the game. JP Peterson scored his sixthtry of the season, along with another four from the rest of the Sharks.

John Plumtree has rightfully said that his charges need to keep their feet on the ground and understand that the Super 14 is far from over. Play the Canes on Saturday will not be easy, however I think this will be the pick of the weekend and there will be 40,000 Sharks fans rooting their boys on, so it should be a cracker.

On a sadder note, Brumbies lock Shawn Mackay was run over outside a Durban night club on Sunday morning. He was trying to cross the road on his way back to the hotel at around 04H15 when he was struck by an armored security patrol vehicle.

He has got a broken leg and spinal injuries. He has been put into a medically induced coma for the next 48 hours so as to stabilise his condition. According to the team doctor he is critical but stable and only time will tell whether he will make a full recovery.

The Springbok 7’s came close to winning their first ever title in Hong Kong but the determination of Fiji was just too much. Fiji ran out 26-24 winner to claim their first title in ten years. Maybe next year the Springboks will get it right.

South Africa's Sharks Are Back in the Hunt

Ian Tait — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:18:28 -0400

Last week the Sharks saw RED and they must have thought they were stuck in the old Beetles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Everything had gone Pink, well at least the Force did. What is it with those jerseys? The Force must have felt like the biggest bunch of pansies when they were handed their kit on match day.

In a hard-fought battle the Sharks played great rugby, played to their strength and did what they should have done last week. JP Peterson is playing some of his best rugby again and proved it with the fantastic try he scored on Saturday, five in six games. The Sharks go home 22-10 victors winning three of their four games on the road.

Matt Goddard is the most pathetic excuse for a referee I have ever seen. I thought our club game was handled poorly on Saturday, but this guy takes the cake. How the hell can he tell a captain that he does not want his ball to be spoilt? How can you tell Bakkies Botha that he must use his big ears and listen better?

Mr. Goddard you are a disgrace and I have said this before and I will say it again and no offence to my short friends and so other short people out there, “you have short man syndrome and will never be bigger than this wonderful game called rugby.” For once show some grace and respect to the players and to the paying public that have come to see the game and not you.

The Bulls pulled off a fantastic victory over the Hurricanes and given the fact that there were five yellow cards and one red, it was not a bad game to watch.

I do have a question to ask Deon Stegmann got three weeks for a deserved spear tackle, but what happened to the Canes player that rucked Bakkies Botha over the wind pipe? That my fellow sports fan in one question we will not get an answer for. The Bulls took away a stunning 14-19 victory.

The Cheetahs got another thumping 32-8 and I am ready to say they can drop out of the Super 14 as they would not be missed. Bring in the Japanese team lets try something new. The Lions beat the Brumbies after a week full of racism allegation. Less to do about racism and more about quotas!

Playing players of colour because the rugby union says a team must. In most cases these players are there on Merit but I am afraid to say some are not and are just there to make up numbers. Earl Rose is not one of those players and he created the spark that the Lions needed to win 25-17.

Other results saw the Crusaders beat the Tahs in Sydney, 13-17, and in the game of the weekend saw the Chiefs put 63 points against the Blues including four tries by Sitiveni Siviatu. The Blues were just out gunned by the Chiefs. I think they have the deadliest backline in the whole of the Super 14. Final score: 63-32!

Where two from here well, the Sharks are back home and beside the real threat of having a brain fart they should go forward to a Semi Final Spot. The Bulls have to ensure that they keep their momentum going and they two will also be in the top four.

Who will be the others well this question is the hardest of the lot? Maybe Chiefs, Canes, Brumbies, the Crusaders, and just possibly the Stormers!

Reds Serve Up Shark-Fin Soup

Ian Tait — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:33:30 -0400

It was Shark Fin soup on the menu at Sun Corp Stadium on Saturday. The undefeated Sharks got taught a lesson in rugby by the Reds, who played away from the Sharks strengths and played to their own strengths.

The game was one of missed opportunities for the Sharks and it cost them dearly. The loss of Ruan Pienaar for three weeks with a knee injury was an even bigger blow. François Steyn had a shocker and although not him alone.

Maybe it is time we let him go to France and buy Butch James back for the Sharks and the Springboks. Although the Sharks did show some great flair at times they were just out played. The Reds ran out deserved winners, 25-13.

The Highlander just lost to the Chiefs at home, 14-10. The Crusaders threw away a great opportunity to beat the Force but ended up throwing away a big lead to draw the game 23-all.

The Sharks will have to be in top form to beat the Force on Saturday in Perth. In other games the Blues skinned the Cheetahs, 46-12, the Brumbies beat the fancied Tahs, 21-11, and the Lions got thumped by the Stormers, 56-18. Although the Lions struck early with two wonderful tries they just did not have the gas to keep the tempo up. The Stormers found top gear and the rest was history.

In the Six nations Wales stumbled in Italy but still managed a 20-15 win. The Scotts lost to Ireland, 22-15, in a classic test match, kick vs. kick, only to be sealed off by a late try in favour of the Irish. Early St. Patrick’s Day party for them.

Ireland now look certain to take the Six Nations. If Ireland are to finally win their first Grand Slam they will need to go to Cardiff on Saturday and beat Wales. England finally won a game by beating visiting France, 34-10.

On the soccer front, the big news mid week was that all four English clubs have made it through to the next round of the UEFA Cup. Then onto the game of the weekend was most certainly the Manchester United Vs Liverpool. A game hyped up by United as the title clincher. The only problem was that Liverpool did not stick to the script. Man U getting thumped and deservedly so, 4-1.

The Gunners finally started scoring goals by beating Blackburn Rovers 4-0. Spurs did the Gunners and themselves a great service by beating Aston Villa 2-1 at Villa Park. Chelsea moved to second ahead of Liverpool with a 1-0 win over Manchester City. Even though Man U had lost I still don’t see them not winning the title this year. Although who will finish in second, third, and fourth is still anybodies guess.

Next week I will have news on Varsity and their quest for top three finish in the 1st Division. Feedback from the third and final test between SA and Australia and hopefully some updates for the up and coming Formula One season.

Cheers for now, keep fit and enjoy your sport.

—ONETIME

Sharks Starting To Dominate the Super 14

Ian Tait — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:42:39 -0400

The question on all Super 14 fans' lips at present is “Where are the New Zealand teams?”

The answer is very simple: playing rugby in Japan, Ireland, England, and France. Why, you may ask?

It's as simple as "money talks." If I'm a good No. 10 playing rugby in New Zealand, will I ever get that All Black contract? Maybe, but only if Dan Carter falls off of the face of the earth.

Guess what, injuries happen, and Dan is not in the rugby picture for now. Now is the time to stand up and be counted. Too bad only one young man has; he is 19 years old and from the Blues in Hopes.

One wonders if the drain of players will hurt New Zealand now, and also, if it will create a major problem leading up to the 2011 World Cup.

South Africa had the same problem a few years back, but what it did was give the youngsters the opportunity to put their hands up and be counted.

To anyone who thinks that the All Blacks will be weak in the next Cup, I think you are right. The majority of their players will be the same squad that played in 2007, and they were already getting long in the tooth then.

It's unfortunate, because New Zealand has a wealth of good youngsters, and given enough opportunity in the Super 14, Air New Zealand Cup, and the Tri-Nations, they could be a force to reckon with.

This weekend produced the lowest scoring game in the history of the competition; a 6-0 victory by the Highlanders over the Crusaders did not leave rugby fans with a nice taste in their mouths.

But on the plus side, the Chiefs-versus-Force matchup was fantastic. The Chiefs got over their bad luck and thumped their opponents 31-13.

The Cheetahs got beaten again, and I seriously doubt that they are going to win a game this season after dropping another contest—29-12 to the Hurricanes.

The Waratahs and Reds was a battleground brawl. The 'Tahs came up triumphant, 15-10, but it was not the prettiest game around.

Same goes for the Stormers-Bulls contest. Although one can't get tired of Luke Watson being booed all day long. The Bulls won 14-11.

Naming the game of the weekend is a no-brainer: Blues versus Sharks. Although the score line looked close, the bottom line is this: The Sharks dominated every part of the game.

Scrums, line-out, loose play, the back line brakes, and of course, the defense. A.D. Jacobs is without a shadow of a doubt the best center in world rugby at the moment.

Stephan Terblanche is the most consistent fullback in the Super 14, and the Sharks' pack is the best-balanced of the competition. This was just their first bonus point win of the season, but I feel it is the first of many to come.

The Sharks escaped 35-31 winners at Eden Park, although you'd be forgiven for thinking that the Sharks were playing in Kings Park.

The Arsenal seems to have found their goal-scoring form again, although it was against a championship side; they beat Burnley 3-0. Their top players are slowly starting to make a return from injury, and hopefully, this bodes well for the rest of their season.

Manchester United again turned on the charm, thumping Fulham 4-0. Chelsea was too strong for Coventry (a 2-0 final), and Everton beat Middlesbrough 2-1.

On the cricket side, Graham Smith is out again with a broken hand, and we won’t see him for the rest of the Test season.

Australia's a team on a mission, already up 1-0 in the series and setting the Proteas 556 runs to win. They are set to take the second test here in Durban.

So what does all this mean for South African cricket? Well, for starters, a change in personnel.

Morne Morkel needs to make way for his older brother, Albie, and I would suggest that Mark Boucher moves aside for A.B. De Villiers. And with Smith out, Ashwel Prince should be an automatic choice for the third test in Newland.

We had the opportunity of dethroning Australia as the No. 1 test side in the world, but this will just have to wait.

England looks set to lose the test series in the West Indies, and India seems to be in top form over in New Zealand.

The Sri-Lankan team is out of action for a while after the disgusting act of terrorism in Lahore; considering that Pakistan is regarded as one of the most dangerous countries in the world and that nobody will ever be safe there, I am sure that it will be a very long time before any team tours there again.

What about this week coming up?

Well, the Six Nations will come to a grand finale, with Ireland having the only realistic chance of winning the game.

After chatting this evening with Craig Joubert, the referee that had the pleasure of doing the Ireland-England game last week, it seems that the Irish should be favorites. I don’t see the Scotts upsetting them at Murray Field, and even if they do, the point difference should be in their favor.

The Sharks play the Reds on Saturday, and let's hope that the Sharks repeat their performance from two years ago. The Lions go to Cape Town, and the Cheetahs take on the Blues on Friday.

The Bulls and the Hurricanes both have byes while the Brumbies host the Waratahs, the Crusaders host the Force, and the Highlanders play the Chiefs.

My picks of the weekend would have to be Brumbies-Waratahs and England-France.

Until next time, take care, keep fit, and enjoy the sport. Oh, and before I forget, Manchester United plays Liverpool this Saturday; that should also be a cracker.

One time.

Bulls Still At The Top of Super 14 Log

Ian Tait — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:01:56 -0500

It was certainly a weekend of upsets in the Vodacom Super 14. The Champions losing at home to the Hurricanes, the Brumbies losing at home to the Force and the Stomer’s also losing at home to the Blues.

Is the loss of Dan Carter and Robbie Deans the telling factor of the Crusaders poor start of the season? I think not, traditionally they are slow starters and with a rather big injury list for the beginning of the season they will be back.

The Hurricanes start to the season has also not been as the pundits have expected, but they hit their straps on Friday and beat the Crusaders for the first time in six years, running out 24-30 winners in Christ church.

The Waratahs have gone 3 in 3 with a solid performance over the Highlanders in Sydney, winning 34-16. The Stormers where poor, handling was shocking!

To any Stormers supporters, let me ask you the question, how far do you think they will get with their current tight five? If you answer honestly you will know the answer to the question, nowhere.

Rassie is under serious pressure and feels that he is not getting the support of his players. Well maybe the fact that Puke Watson is playing in his team has something to do with it. Ok let’s be fair he has played some really good rugby this season, but when you team hates you, one rotten apple is all it takes.

PS: Rassie also does not want to play Luke away from Newlands in South Africabecause he feels that he will be booed. LOL, what do you think will happen in the rest of South Africa who thinks that the Springbok Emblem should be the national emblem of the country. IDIOT!

The Western Force played a great game of rugby to win in ACT. Although they were outclassed in the tight five, the rest of their game was very clever and they out thought and outplayed the Brumbies.

Scoring 4 tries including a hat-trick from Cameron Sheppard, they only time the Brumbies looked like scoring was with a penalty try for a supposed illegal scrum. No ways would I have given a penalty try on the contrary, I would have pinged the Brumbies for illegal binding with the lose head going in on the tight head and shoving up.

The came the rain at Ellis Park and a referee by the name of Philip Bosh! The fact that it was only his second Super 14 game, one has to ask why. Yes he was the same referee that did the opening game of the Super 14 last the one that ended 6-3 between the Force and the Hurricane.

All that players ask for is constancy. Well Mr. Bosh you ruined a great game and yes some of my colleagues will disagree with me, but he was shocking. The Bulls have gone 3 and 0 and Pierre Spies is playing exceptional rugby.

The Lions were unlucky and had the referee been more constant I think the result would have gone to the home side instead of them going down 9-16.

The Rugby God’s where smiling on the Sharks in New Zealand. The Chiefs had three TMO decisions over turned, but defence counted in the Sharkies favour. It was sad to see Jean Deysel leave the field after only two minutes of the game and the knee injury will keep him out for at least eight weeks.

The Sharks will know that they were in a game on Saturday, but it was great to see how all the players put their bodies on the line for the team. JP Peterson scoring two tries and Frans Steyn one the Sharks did have the opportunity to get the bonus point try, however to late she cried.

Their next game against the Blues is where the Sharks have to stand up to be counted. If they can walk away with another win and a bonus point to boot will put them in a very strong position for the rest of the season. Sharks 22, Chiefs 15.

The less said about the Reds and Cheetahs game the better. Final score 22-3 to the Reds, crap!

The Australians have come back with vengeance, by thumping the Proteas by 162 runs. Congratulations to Jacque Kallis on being the first South African and All Rounder to reach 10000 runs and 250 wickets. Ricky Ponting won another toss four in a row and had no hesitation to bat first.

After being in trouble at 33 for 3 they amassed 466 with a ton for debutant M J North and a 96 not out by Man of the Match Mitchell Johnson. Smith dropped Ponting on 43 this proved to be a turning point in day one.

South Africawas poor in their batting and only AD De Villiers with 104 not out was the shinning light when SA could only make 220. The second inning of Australiasaw the world best all rounder Kallis take 3 wickets to turn the game on its head, seeing them fall to 207 all out.

By this time the damage was done and leaving South Africa with a world record 451 runs to win. This was always going to a tough task on a difficult wicket. This Friday the second test starts in Durban and it is a must win game for the South Africans if they want to become the worlds best test side.

Congratulations to Manchester Untied for Winning the Carling Cup and getting one step closer to the quadruple. Liverpool has thrown away all chances of winning their first league title in 17 years by losing 2-0 away to Middlesbrough.

Villa game the Gunners another chance by drawing 2-2 with Stoke at home. Arsenal seems to have forgotten how to score goals drawing 0-0 with Fulham. Please Fulham what a terrible team and the Gunners can’t score.

Chelsea is back at No. 2 and is starting to look like a championship side again. But there are still plenty of games still left, but I don’t see Man U losing from here on in.

Until next week, enjoy the sport.

Cheers

ONETIME.

Rugby Rumblings: Bulls Rampage to the Top of the Super 14 Table

Ian Tait — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:12:32 -0500

If it seemed like Blue Bull country was a little down last week with the loss of Victor Mattfield, well somebody forgot to tell the Bulls. The Blues could have been forgiven for thinking that they might have had a chance in going to Loftus on Saturday. Well along came the Bulls and they stampeded the Blues and left them battered, bruised, and, well, BLUE.

One thing is certain, and I am saying this with conviction, any team who thinks that they can go to Loftus and win better be on top of its game; any team that thinks that it will walk all over the Bulls away from home, think again. Fourie Du Preez is the best scrum half in world rugby at the moment and I think that played the biggest role in the confidence that the Bulls showed. Final score: 59-26!

The Hurricanes are still rated as the team to win the Super 14 by the New Zealand press and like the Sharks they have been anything but impressive. They just scraped home against the least fancied team from the South Island, the Highlanders 22-17.

The Waratahs managed an 11-7 win at home to the Chiefs, the Sharks next opponents. The Waratahs are going to be hard to beat at home and it is actually a great result for the Chiefs. This will also boast their confidence playing at home for the first time on Saturday.

If rugby was played over a period on 70 minutes, well the Cheetahs would be Super 14 and Currie Cup Champions, well not quiet, but the amount of games that they have lost in the last ten minutes is crazy. They have still not won in Australia and Friday was a perfect game to break this duck. But the Western Force play rugby for 80 minutes and hence won the game 16-10.

The Stormers almost through away a certain victory on Friday night and although their forwards battled up front, it was the play on the three quarters that impressed me most. Basic ball skills let them down and allowed the Reds back into the game to just lose 27-14. One thing Rassie needs to look into is strengthening his front row. Buy, borrow or steal, but get them down to Cape Town.

The Brumbies fought hard in Canberra on Saturday night and only secured the game after full time by scoring and converting after the hooter. The Crusaders defending like men possessed but the amount of pressure was relentless. They still look like a championship side and if Richie McCaw was playing the game would have ended differently.

I still can’t believe the Bryce Lawrence is still on the Super 14 merit panel, he is poor, the Australian commentators think so and the Reunion presenters try not to talk about him as being a Kiwi. It was a fantastic game of rugby none the less.

The rusty Sharks managed to ground out a 25-10 victory over the Lions at Kings Park on Saturday night. When I say it was hot, let me explain the day, buy 11 o’clock in the morning it was 37c outside. The temperature dropped to about 30c by six pm but the humidity made it about 36c.

If you have never been to Durban in February you need to do it just once and you will understand the problem the players had on Saturday. Hence the game got scrappy, hence the knock-on’s and hence the spectators frustration. Even more frustrating was the fact that the Sharks did not score a bonus point try.

The Lions was there for the taking and should have been thumped by 40 points. Ruan Pienaar is looking lost at first five eight, but John Plumtree must continue and he will come right. Rory Kockott and Ryan Kankowski along with AD Jacobs are on top form. The forwards of the Sharks looks like the strongest unit in this year competition and it will take a lot to put them to the sword.

Springbok captain John Smit has asked South African players to reconsider going over to Europe to play for the big pay day. The truth of the matter is that life is not that easy overseas and even though the money is great, having no friends learning to speak new languages and learning new cultures is not always that easy.

Worst of the lot is the weather is crap. Wet, cold, wet, cold...oh yes no sun. Imagine going half a year with no sun. Come on we are Africans, we were born under the African sky, this is our country, on heritage and why would you want to hand it over for a few pounds or euros? Frans Steyn has reportedly been offered R4.5 million per year to go to France. As much as I think he is playing weak rugby, he will be a major loss to South African rugby by not being here.

The fact remains Smit, Mattfield, Willemse, Monty, Terblanche have all gone over and returned. Yes one can argue that Butch James is playing fantastic rugby and many other South Africans are doing well over seas, but at what cost to South Africa. Look at the New Zealandteams in the Super 14 and see how weak they look this year. They have lost over 15 of their top players in the last two years, most of them All Blacks. These players were key to their Super 14 teams and the impact is clear to see.

European rugby has not gained from the influx of the foreign players as it has weakened the player selection pools for their countries. The Six Nations have given us some good games this year, but it is not the Super 14 and won’t be like the Tri-Nations and the reason for that is the strongest rugby is played down in the Southern Hemisphere so why do you want to go up North, why?

Until next, enjoy the rugby.

Cheers,

OneTime

Cracking Start to the Super 14

Ian Tait — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:39:47 -0500

Well it was a mad rush yesterday afternoon getting home and search for anything that resembled rugby. The closest thing I could find was highlights for the IRB Sevens, but that was not what I was looking for. Yes the rugby was fantastic. The local supporters standing in the stand in their Stars and Stripes Bikinis were awesome.

But still not the cheerleaders for the greatest competition on the planet, yes Super 14 rugby. Even my daughter's chomping at the bits to see any form of television for the weekend sat enthralled watching the highlights and waiting for our beloved Sharks to come on TV.

I don’t think that the Super 14 could have started with a better game than the Highlanders Vs the Brumbies. The Highlanders started with a 19 point lead only to have the Brumbies score 29 unanswered points. Back came the Highlanders to go 31-29 up only for a drop goal to seal the game in the favour of the visitors 31-33 with less than a minute to go.

The next game saw the Western Force blow the game against a spirited Blues side that is now in a lot of trouble with three key players out for at least the next three weeks. The Blues won 19-25 in Perth.

One on the quickest games of the weekend was the battle of the cats, with the Lions hosting the Cheetahs. Let it be said, the Lions front row will rain down the Roth of God on many an unsuspecting front row in the Super 14. Wepner at hooker and Van Der Merwe at prop are frightening strong, but their line-outs do leave a lot to be desired.

The loose forwards dominate with Bay-Watch and Brussow going treat gun, but Juan Smith was my loosie of the day. Was it also not great to see Heno Mentz in full cry with two fantastic tries for the Lions? He is still a class player and a deadly finisher. Final score 34-28 to the Lions!

The Crusaders out did the Chiefs at home with a solid 19-13 encounter. Typical hard no quarter given All Black rugby! Even with the loss of Carter and Deans the Crusaders will not find it to hard to make the semi’s this year. Last year’s finalist the Waratahs came away with a very good win over the Hurricanes in Wellington.

The Canes will also be without the service of Rodney So’oialo after he was suspended for one match for stomping on Phil Waugh. Although it was an Australian that took the boot, let Rodney come to South Africa and do the same to Puke Watson and we will make him president of the country.

This Australian outfit is a quality side and should also not take too much effort to make the semi finals, only their away form to South Africamight let them down. The final score was 22-26 to the Tahs.

The Stormers Vs the Sharks was supposed to be the game of the weekend. It seemed to be a game of two halves but also one of missed opportunities. The bottom line with nine points squandered in the first have and with over 60% of possession and 64 % of territory the Sharks should have won by a lot further. However the defence was fantastic on both sides and the “Big D” is going to win the Super 14 this year.

I think if the two teams had met later on the game would have been a bit more flowing, but a great game non the less it was. The try of the weekend also game from this game with the Old War Horse, Stephan Terblanche scoring a try under the uprights started from the Sharks try line.

The Bulls got off to a flying start by securing a bonus point in beating the Reds 33-20. The win came at a high price though, with Victor Mattfield being sidelined for the next three weeks. He tore the AC ligaments in his shoulder. Although this will be a big loss to the Bulls I don’t see them losing to the Blues on Friday night.

The tight five was solid as always and although the ELV’s might not suit their style of rugby, there is too much class in this years squad not to be able to adapt to the ELV’s.

On the seven front, the Boks lost to Englandin the semi finals only for the Poms to come up short against the Argies. England and South Africa are now joint top with 60 point followed by the Kiwis on 52 points. The Kenyan side pulled off their second major scalp of the year by beating New Zealand in the first round in San Diego.

The Six Nations saw results go according to form, with Wales and France pulling off expected wins and Italy getting thumped properly by Ireland. Wales dispatched of England23-15 and only the ill discipline of the English players proved to be a serious draw back for them. Jonathan Kaplan took no prisoners with handing the Poms two yellow cards for professional fowls costing them dearly. Something Martin Johnston must be very concerned about. The French beat the Scotts 22-13 at home.

Ireland beat Italy 38-9 and I firmly Nick Mallet is wasting his time coaching the Italians. He should be looking at going back to France or maybe England to coach, were his skills as a coach can be properly used.

I will have more news next week on English football, cricket and the return of Lance Armstrong to cycling.

Take care, keep fit, and enjoy the sport.

ONETIME

England Get Blown Away

Ian Tait — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:12:17 -0500

Ok, there are less than five days left before the start of the Super 14. Rugby fever is running wild, Varsity Cup, Six Nations, The Lions tour of South Africa, Tri-Nations, Currie Cup and of course school boy and club rugby.

Ladies and Gents, brace yourselves, this is going down...The Stormers Sharks is going to be the pick of the local derby’s on Valentines Day. There is going to be big trouble in rugby land mostly the boys will be getting it in the neck; however I know of a few girls that will also be getting some stick from their soccer-loving boyfriends.

The Highlanders will kick off against the Brumbies at 08H35 on Friday, Followed by the Force against the Blues and then The Lions take on the Cheetahs on Friday night.

Saturday starts nice and early at 06H30 when the Chiefs visit the Crusaders. The Hurricanes host the Waratahs the Stormers play the Sharks and the last game of the weekend will see the Reds visit the Bulls.

But if you have not yet had enough of Super 14 then there is also Six Nations with Francehosting the Scotts and Wales play England. But you know what the biggest problem of it all is?

Well I am going away trout fishing and I have known DSTV, meaning no rugby until Sunday. I am starting to think maybe my shoulder is about to go and I will have to stay at home. Would I still be married on Monday, I don’t think so.

The Six Nations blew hot and cold. The game of the weekend was Ireland against France at Cork Parkin front of 85000 fans. What a fantastic game of rugby. The French never gave up and Ireland where sublime. Brian O’Driscoll scored his 33rd try for his country and a beauty it was indeed. The final score was 30-21.

England thumped a hapless Italy by 25 points, winning 36-11. The big lesson to be learnt here is simple, Mr. Mallet you do not play a flank at scrum half, not in a test match. The Six Nations champions Wales beat Scotland at Murray field in a real tough game of test rugby. It was pretty at time, but hard as hell. 13-26 was a fair reflection of the score line.

I will give a word of warning though, don’t write of Scotland.

The Wellington 7’s was a resounding success with England beating New Zealand with 10 seconds left in the game. The Springboks got knocked out by Kenya of all sides however did end up securing the plate and eight valuable points to stay at the top of the IRB Sevens log.

Soccer in England saw Liverpool go back to the top if only for a few hours, by coming back and scoring two goals in the last five minutes to beat Pompey 3-2 and thereby costing Tony Adams his job as Portsmouth coach. Manchester United beat West Ham 1-0 of Sunday to regain the top spot, with a game in hand. Chelseaand Arsenal both dropped 2 points in games they should have won.

Everton and Villa are still going great guns and with just over 13 games left in the season. It will be interesting to see who finishes second, third, and fourth this season.

Breaking News: Chelsea fire Luiz Felipe Scolari after the board felt that he was not guiding the club in the right direction. Two coaches in two years, is not a sign of a stable club.

Do not be surprised if you see the mass departure of players like, Drogba, Ballack, Deco, Jo Cole. Ray Wilkins will be care taker coach for the interim. There are rumors of the Russian coach Guus Hiddink taking the rains, however again we will have to wait and see what happens.

After signing the praises of England last week, I need to make a correction on my statement about Graham Ford being England’s new coach. “Thanks for the correction guys.”

The English coach is in fact the ex Zimbabwean test player Andy Flower. Well England won the toss against the West Indies and decided to bat first in Kingston. Scoring 318, the Windies replied with 392 all out. This left them 78 runs ahead of England. Not the biggest first innings lead and it should have been knocked off without to much fuss.

Well it happened, 51 all out, shame on you England shame on you! Well done to the West Indies!

The Pro 20 has been riveting with some very close finishes. The Warriors ended up on top followed by the Dolphins, Cobra’s and Eagles. Yesterday I took my oldest to her first cricket match. Sitting in Castle corner was an eye opener for Demi, but to see her enjoyment in seeing her team win was incredible.

She was obsessed with the scoreboard 43 runs off 43 balls and kept saying, “Dad this is not good, we are not scoring fast enough” but after explaining that we still had 8 chances left to back, it restored confidence in her support. The winning six smacked by Grant Rowley, who incidentally his father was my first club captain for a little farm side called Eastworlds, put the biggest smile on her face, was priceless.

Until next week, enjoy the sport, hold thumbs for the Black Caps so that they can win one more game against Australia and I trust that all your rugby sides win, except if you are a Stormers supporter.

Cheers

ONETIME

From the Pitch to the Gridiron: A Week in Review

Ian Tait — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:59:58 -0500

South Africa is officially the best One Day Cricket Team in the World.

The Proteas thumped the Baggy Greens 4-1 in the ODI series.

The team has done well in 2008, winning a test series in England and then securing their first ever test series win in Australia.

2009 could not have started on a better note for the Proteas as being crowned No.1 in the world is fantastic. All the Proteas have to now is dispatch the Australians in the home test series and they will then hold the test title as well.

Credit must go to Mickey Arthur who has been a very quiet, very well-respected coach, guiding and educating his players in the art of cricket, the art of being tough and the art of being a sportsman. In this, only a fool would deny him his credit.

Have a look at what Gary Kirsten has done for Indian cricket and now with Graham Ford taking over England and one will see just how much the South African influence will have on World Cricket. The captains, Graeme Smith and Johan Botha have led by example. Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis bowled well, Hash, AD and JP Duminy showed that as the young guns coming through, they have the BMT and for the Australian public to give standing ovations when South Africa went to collect their trophies, you know you have done well.

Liverpool did it again on the soccer field and beat Chelsea 2-0 to end their run on the English Premier League. This still puts Liverpool with a shot for the title, however Manchester United looked certain to take the title. Again, they only won 1-0 against Everton at home. Arsenal and Aston Villa both drew their games and The Gunners look certain not to make Champions League next season.

Tottenham lost away to Bolton 3-2 but with the signing of Robbie Keane they will bolster the strike force for Harry Redknapp. The Gunner have also signed Andrei Arshavin for 12 million pounds in a deal that will see him with The Arsenal until the end of 2012. It is about time -- since Henry left the North London team, they have been weak up front. Only time will tell how he will fair.

Bafana-Bafana won their fifth game in a row when they beat Zambia 1-0 last week. This is the longest winning streak in their history. Super Sport are still on top with 34 points, followed by Ajax Cape Town with 31 and the Pirates with 30. The Chiefs also have 30 points but are behind on goal difference.

In the Australian Open, Raphael Nadal won his sixth Grand Slam title denying Roger Federer his chance of becoming the leading men’s player of all time. If Federer had won, it would have been his 14th title, but alas it was not to be. Serena Williams became the leading ladies money earner of all-time in tennis when she dispatched of Safina 6-0- 6-3 on Saturday night. The title has also put her back as the No. 1 ranked ladies player.

South African Rugby is in a bit of a pickle, Canterbury South Africa have gone belly up. This means that the Springbok will need to be looked after by Canterbury International, but clubs and schools that are looking for new jerseys will need to look at other brands.

Frans Steyn has been linked to a move to France, somewhere in the region of R4,5 million per year. The Sharks don’t have that kind of money and I don’t think that SARU do either. This is a frightening amount of money in South African terms.

In sadder news, if you are a Kiwi supporter and more so a rugby purist, Dan Cater has a torn his Achilles and is likely to be out of action for six months.

The NFL Super Bowl has just concluded with the Pittsburgh Steelers beating the Arizona Cardinals, 27-23. I only got to watch the fourth quarter and as somebody who does not know much about the game, it was very exciting. Arizona came from behind to erase a 20-7 deficit, scoring twice in the last 15 minutes to take the lead.

With 35 seconds left, the Steelers got a touchdown to earn their NFL-record sixth Super Bowl title.

Next week, I will have the run down of the Super 14, predictions and wishes and also update on the Varsity Cup that started tonight.

Good Times For South Africa, With 500 Days Left Until the 2010 World Cup

Ian Tait — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:42:53 -0500

So yet another series win over the once mighty Australian cricket side. While the Australians were celebrating Australian Day, the Proteas were stealing the thunder and turning it into a day of mourning.

Once they were a great side, but at the moment they are nowhere, with South Africa taking the series today in fantastic style, thumping them by eight wickets!

What has happened?

Well many factors, but the most important one I think is the self belief that the South African have in themselves. They believe that they can win any game any time. The only thing I still think they are weak in is in Twenty20; however it is Mickey Mouse cricket.

The Australian's problem is they have lost worldclass players in Warne, McGrath, Langer, Gilchrest, and Hayden. Make no mistake, Haden, Johnston, Katich, and Clark are fantastic young cricketers and given another year or two they will be back at the top.

The only weak link they have is a world class spinner.

In the Standard Bank Pro 20, the Dolphins, Cobras, and Warriors have got off to a fantastic start. It is also fantastic to see the Pro 20 Cheerleaders again. But with only five games in each pool, you must win and finish in the top two positions to get to the Semi Finals.

Durban will have their first Pro 20 on Friday when the Dolphins take on the Warriors. It would be nice to see some of the other teams make the semi finals. Hopefully it will be the Dolphins, Warriors, Lions and Cobras who do the business this year.

The Varsity 4^thcricket side kept up their winning ways, by beating Umbilo/Harlequins by four wickets. They are still top of the log. I would also like to take this opportunity to say farewell to Tyron who has been a fantastic player for the team with bat and ball. Also the great humor he brought to the team will be missed. There goes my smoking buddy. Tyron, thank you and good luck with the soccer refereeing in the UK!

On the football side, Liverpool and Everton drew 1-1 yesterday in the FA Cup 4^thround. Arsenal drew 0-0 with Cardiff so it will be replays all round for them. Manchester United beat Spurs 2-1. Pompey, the Cup holders, got bundled out by Swansea 2-0. No other major upsets took place.

Although the FA Cup is the oldest competition in the world, it seems not that important to me. Today was an important milestone for South Africa. There is just 500 days left before the World Cup 2010 begins. And yes all the negativity about cost the economy will not be able to handle it, disruption the roads in Jo'Burg especially.

Well, guess what, it is going to be a fantastic event and boy I can’t wait for the Durban airport to move out to Zimbali/Umhlanga rocks way. I can have peaceful nights and late afternoon, without the roar of aircraft taking off or landing… Imagine taking 30 minutes to drive from Jo’burg to Pretoria and that at 8am in the morning.

Good things are happening and it is about time.

In the Australian Open the 4^thseed Andy Murray was knocked out by Fernando Verdasco. Nadal is now favorite to take the title, but Federer is still in (Sorry Jean, but I think Dad has it right this year, Roger will take this one.) In the ladies section Jankovic, Ivanovic, and Venus Williams are all out. It is anybody's title and there is going to be some fine tennis to come. A bookies nightmare!

PS: On a happy note for all the Luke Watson fans—if there are any—he got booed every time he handled a rugby ball yesterday in the Stormers game against Saracens. Even when he scored a try he still got booed. Same Luke…Not!

Until next week, take care.

ONETIME

South Africa Dominates Dakar 500 Rally, and Beyond

Ian Tait — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:31:17 -0500

Well, rugby fever is running high at last in Sharks Country.

Starting with week three of the Durban Varsity rugby season, things are looking up for us.

New jerseys are arriving in February.

And over 30 guys at training without even counting the students that have yet to arrive.

If the numbers stay like, this we will be heading for a very good season at Durban Varsity.

On Friday I attended the largest rugby coaching conference in South Africa, hosted by the Sharks Rugby Union. It was great to see how the Currie Cup Champions run drills and training runs.

Professor Tim Noakes of the Sports Sience Institute mentioned nothing about eating or training programs but spoke about the metal aspect of sports and how clever rugby players will always dominate big burly brutes who don’t think. Objective is to find clever big brutes.

Ruan Pienaar will play at pivot for the Sharks and John and Jannie will share duties at Tight Head Prop, with john also swapping with Bismarck. John Plumtree has been very happy with the preseason training and they are quietly confident that with the quick pressure game they have the fire power to do well again this season. But as always only time will tell. Go Sharks!!!

On the cricket front, after getting smashed by Australia in the 20/20 the South African dominated the first and second ODIs. Winning the first but throwing away a certain victory in the second. They only have themselves to blame on this one.

The Titans continued with their dominance on the local cricket front, by drilling the Diamond Eagles by eight wickets in the MTM Domestic 45 over final. Onto my cricket side, the Varsity Fourth are still top of their log with a comfortable 54 run victory in our first game of the year.

A big congrats must go out to Alex Powney for taking five for 23 in his six overs yesterday, also to the first side that beat Collegians by one wicket in the premier league.

It looks like the warning of Alex Ferguson has come true. Liverpool are two points behind the Champions and have seem to have played their final hand. The title is there for United to lose.

Tonight’s game between Everton will give us an indication of what Liverpool is made of.

Arsenal are still in fifth, trailing Aston Villa by three points and they may be playing UEFA next year. Chelsea left it late to get a winner against Stoke, but are still in a very good position to strike should the top two side stumble along the way.

At the bottom, it is still anyone on nine sides that are within four points of the bottom side. Fulham lost 3-1 to West Ham, Man City beat 1-0, Arsenal beat Hull3-1 away, Villa beat Sunderland 2-1, Man U beat Bolton 1-0, Chelsea beat Stoke 2-1, Newcastle lost 3-0 away to Blackburnand Spurs drew 1-1 with Pompie.

The Australian Open started today and so far no big surprises. Even the famous Melbourneheat played ball. Djokovic and Federer both sailed through their respective games. Anna Ivanovic struggled at first in her game but proved to strong for her opponent.

Top ladies seed Jelena Jankovic sailed through her first-round game. A very interesting two weeks lay ahead and I am picking Scotland’s Andy Murray to take the men’s honors this year. I am not sure about the ladies though.

Well done to the 2009 Dakarchampion South Africa Giniel De Villiers for winning his first Dakar. South African Ralph Pitchford for coming second as co driver with American Mark Miller. South African designed Nissan Navaras also came in third and fourth. Putting South Africa firmly at the for-front of the world rally car design this is great for South Africa.

Until next week, cheers!

Think beyond the horizon and you will find success!

The Heat Is On for Liverpool

Ian Tait — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:43:46 -0500

The big question on all soccer fans minds this week has the Liverpool coach shot off his mouth to soon. Benitez had a lot to say about Sir Alex, saying that he was the only manager in the league that could say what he wanted about referees and other managers.

I think he was trying to get back at Ferguson for saying that Liverpool will run out of steam. Well, Liverpool’s performance against Stoke left a lot to be desired drawing 0-0 and dropping two points.

Manchester United thumped Chelsea 3-0 yesterday and has now become odd-on favorites to retain their title. Aston Villa and Arsenal both won on the weekend, but I don’t give them a chance of taking the title.

Liverpool doesn’t have a big enough squad to maintain the top spot and win their first title in 19 years. Chelsea has dropped the ball and unless they find their MoJo, second or third will be the only spot they get.

Harry Redknapp’s bubble has burst and after the great start Spurs is back in the bottom three. To be fair though, there are six sides ahead of them that only have three points to play with. Newcastle in 11th has 23 points and West Brom last is sitting on 18, so it will be a very brave fan to call the bottom three sides at this stage of the season that will be relegated.

In the PSL, Chiefs beat Sundowns 1-0, Santos lost to 3-0 to Golden Arrow, Super Sport beat Pirates 1-0, Stars and Celtic drew 2-2 and Free State Stars and AmaZulu played out 3-2. The log is again showing the Ajax is heading the top on 30 points followed by Super Sport on 28. Chiefs are now up to 4^th with Bloem Celtic bring up the bottom on 12 points.

South Africa came up against a man by the name of Shaun Tait yesterday. Bowling his first over in the 20/20 with an average speed of 152kph the slowest of 150 and the fastest of 156 that pinned AB De Villiers on the hip and with the impact of which caused him to hit his stumps with his bat. The only glimmer of hop in the 52 run defeat was JP Duminy 78 of 48 balls.

It will be all happening down at the GABA tomorrow night in the 2^nd 20/20. KP was asked to resign as England captain the coach was fired and another South African Andrew Strauss has been made captain.

It is also now rumored that Graham Ford, another South African and current Kent coach is being tipped as the new England Coach. Exciting times in world cricket!

Onto the Dakar, Pascal Terry age 49 passed away after an accident on Stage Five. He was found 15 meters from his crashed bike, with food and water. He had removed his helmet and radioed for help. By the time the rescue team reached Pascal he had passed on.

Volkswagen is leading the standings in first and second and De Villiers also in a Volkswagen is in fifth. There is still six stages left so by this time next week, we know who the winners will be.

In the F1 circus Ferrari launched their new car for the 2009 season. The F60 pictures attached and with the new aerodynamic that is allowed this year, we should see a better season of overtaking.

The Super 14 countdown is getting closer with almost 31 sleeps left before it all starts on the 13th of February with the Highlanders taking on the Brumbies. The Stormers will host the Sharks on the 14th so I guess Valentines Day will take on a new format, Rugby in the Pubs with your mates and then try and find your girlfriend for dinner afterwards. LOL.

Well until next week, we will chat again.

Cheers

Onetime

Think beyond the horizon and you will find success!

Happy New Year

Ian Tait — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:34:06 -0500

Well firstly seasons greeting to all of you. I trust that you all had an enjoyable Christmas and a wonderful New Year. I have been away attempting to fly fish, but this time of the year is not the greatest.

Water is warm and the fish tend to be off the bite. Notwithstanding these little setbacks I still managed to land three out of 10 rainbows all of which were over a kilogram, so come on winter.

So what have we missed while I was away? The biggest news is the first ever series win by a South African cricket team in Australia.

After a stunning 414 run chase in Perth, SA cashed down 183 runs in Melbourneto win the second test by nine wickets. Fatboy Smith has lead by example and has been in great nick, although it seems he will miss the rest of the third test after breaking his left hand after being stuck by Mitchell Johnston. SA trail Australia by 140 runs at the end of Day three in Sydney and it does not look that great that we can win this test.

If South Africa can pull off and win the series 3-0 they will become the number 1 ranked test team in world cricket. England will be eyeing the rest of the third test and the return leg closely as the Ashes will be played again this year and I am sure they will be thinking they stand a good chance of taking the Ashes back again.

On the soccer front, well Liverpool leads Chelsea from Man U, from Aston Villa from Arsenal. The FA Cup was played this weekend and the richest club in the world was knocked out 3-0 by Nottingham Forest.

So far everything is going according to ranking, but the fourth round has a mouth watering fixture when the Red Devils take on Spurs. Liverpool plays Everton and the Gunners take on Cardiff.

The world’s premier rugby competition starts in February. Yes that is right, it is Super 14 time! The Bulls, The Stormers, The Hurricanes, The Crusaders, The Reds or The Sharks, who will be crowned the Champions at the end of May.

The Lions and Cheetahs along with the Highlanders will in all likeliness fight it out for the wooden spoon. Judging by quality of their squads, they just don’t seem to have the fire power. The Western force tends to play well at home, however they don’t travel well.

The Waratahs and the Brumbies have new coaches so there will be the unknown factor to the coaches, but I don’t see them performing at the top level just yet. You may ask what about the Crusaders they also have a new coach, but with Todd Blackadder they did win the Air New Zealand Cup last year (NPC) and even without Dan Carter they just ooze class. For the Sharks this season is make or break and if they do not end up in the final I am sure it will be looked upon as a failed campaign. Only time will tell.

The Dakar Rally started on Sunday in Argentina, and by all accounts, it seems that a winning formula has been found. South African Giniel De Villiers is currently lying in third position. The race will take place from the third to the 18^th of January between Argentina and Chili over a distance of 9574kms Starting and ending in Buenos Aires.

The drivers and riders will cover Mountain, Desert, open planes, and jungle in what will be a very grueling trip. The nice part for the competitors is they are less likely to be taken out by terrorists and disgruntled tribesmen.

Until next week, I will chat to you again. Enjoy the sport, hold thumbs for the cricket boys.

Cheers

Onetime

Stenson Takes The Million Nedbank Million Dollar

Ian Tait — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:41:01 -0500

Firstly I would like to appologise for not writing in the last two weeks. I was away in Sun Cityto watch the Nedbank Million Dollar Golf Challenge. We spend eight glorious days in Sun Cityand the beautiful Pilanesberg. The only down side… it was hot. 35c Plus every day, and the sun is relentless. It never gives you a break.

By Wednesday the day before the golf I was having second thoughts about walking the Gary Play Country Club for four days. Would I have enough sun block, how much liquid must I take with me? To be fair, I have never walked a course in a tournament before and it was my first time in Sun City, so I did not know what to expect.

Thursday morning arrived and off we went the family to Cabanas Resort for the day and Onetime off to golf. We caught or bus and got dropped off where we needed to be. After walking through the Golf Expo Tent and being swarmed by pretty little ladies in short skirts and high heels trying to see everything, from time share to golf equipment, one of them not even knowing, what a rescue was.

She thought I was talking about “rescue” for a hang over. I got to the security check to enter. I was promptly told no cell phones and I had to hand mine in. This proved to be a problem later as my wife could get hold of me, missed call and text messages. She thought I was giving her the bird. Once I got in it was time to get liquid refreshments.

Cold drinks to start with and the long walk down the first fairway to the stands behind the green. Clever me I was there an hour before kick off, blazing sun, metal stands, and the temp went from 28c to 35c in 60 minutes.

Onto the tee box was James Kingston and Miguel Angel Jimenez, climbed into the balls and put then straight down the fairway. The second shots put them both within birdie range but that was not to be.

Both players were very unlucky and had these puts gone down, it may have changed their scores for the Challenge. The next 8 holes was a blur of running for that good spot, dodging other spectators, getting lost and then finding the course. After 120 minutes of this the first 9 was complete.

The interesting thing about this format of golf, there was 33 cameras on course, every two ball of which there was six had two camera men following them. There is a mini production producer with each two balls, including two sound persons. Then there are the GSP markers, two guys that follow the balls around. They stand over each ball and give the GSP position of where it lies.

This then gives the exact distance from ball to pin and also whether the ball is in fairway or not or even in a hazard. So there is no escape for the players. There are six mobile marshals that walk with each pair, over and above the fixed marshals around each green. The logistics involved is amazing.

There were television cables running the full length of the course through every hole, in river streams, under drainage ditches even going from fairway to fairway via the bushveld bush. With the dangers of Mambas, Cobras and Boomslangs I am glad I am not the person running the cable through there (two years ago a spectator got bitten by a snake while watching the golf).

Well after 9nineholes the roaming fearless reporter Onetime, walked into some golfing buddies. This was a problem as we ended up gate crashing one of the Nedbank tents, cooling down in the shad, drinking ice cold beer and watching the golf on TV, everytime we went for a beer. We did decide that we had to finish up the afternoons play so we took a walk along the 18th, to the 16th green, in hope of seeing a hole in one.

This never happened, but all in all it was a fantastic day. My only complaint, it there are many spectators that have no idea about golf etiquette and the sooner South African learn this the better. Looking at what I saw, they were very close to the Americans, “Get in the hole”.

Congratulations to Hendrik Stemson on a great win by nine shots. Just four shots shy of the Big Easy’s 25 under par. The leader board is below:

Pos	Name	Score	Hole	Today	Rnd1	Rnd2	Rnd3	Rnd4	Total
1	Henrik Stenson	-21	18	-4	63	71	65	68	267
2	Kenny Perry	-12	18	-7	73	70	68	65	276
3	Robert Karlsson	-9	18	E	72	68	67	72	279
4	Rory Sabbatini	-8	18	-2	68	70	72	70	280
5	Sergio Garcia	-4	18	-2	72	70	72	70	284
	Lee Westwood	-4	18	E	70	72	70	72	284
7	KJ Choi	-2	18	+2	72	67	73	74	286
	James Kingston	-2	18	-5	72	77	70	67	286
9	Justin Rose	+2	18	E	73	73	72	72	290
10	Trevor Immelman	+3	18	+5	72	73	69	77	291
11	Luke Donald	+4	18	+3	72	74	71	75	292
12	Miguel Angel Jimenez	+5	18	-3	75	76	73	69	293

Onto the rugby and has the IRB Sevens not just been fantastic for the Springboks. WOW what a start. A victory of England in Dubai and then a back to back final win over New Zealandin George this past weekend. The Springboks where magnificent and the good news for Paul Treu is that he is keeping the whole squad for the season. So thing should be a lot more consistent for the Boks Seven side this season!

I have not had much time for any other sports, to catch up on. I will be doing one last full report next Monday and that should be the last for the year. I might have the odd quick up date for you regarding the cricket down under, but being in a place with no cell or 3G connections, I will catch up where I can.

Until Monday take care sports fans.

ONETIME

Think beyond the horizon and you will find success!

The Springboks Destroy England!

Ian Tait — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 07:47:41 -0500

“The Springboks were brutal,” said Martin Johnston, England's Coach. These words are most probably the best that could describe the test match played between England and The Springboks on Saturday.

A line of 42-6 is the heaviest defeat that England has ever suffered at HQ, Twickenham since their first ever test played in 1872.

I challenge any English supporter to say that they were robbed in the World Cup Final last year, and all I have to say is look at the scoreboard. Look at the fact that for 240 minutes, England still have not managed to score a try against the mighty Boks.

The fact that South Africa scored five tries, including the final one in overtime just proved that the Boks are not finished with the Poms yet.

The carnage started on defence.

England tried hard, but when your fullback is smoked into touch on the corner flag, by a lock on cover defence, it speaks volume for commitment. Danie Rossouw forced his way over for the first try, then Ruan Pienaar charged down a Cipriani midfield kick and gathered the ball to score under the sticks to put The Boks in a commanding 17-3 lead. The game was all done and dusted by then.

The Second half created the best backline try of the season with AD Jacobs scoring a cracker of a third try. We have discussed the try at Varsity and recon we can pull it off next season. Jean and AD have developed into one of the best centre combinations in world rugby.

One has to feel sorry for Jacque Fourie, as I don’t think he will break into the combination unless there is an injury of some sort. His determination in the winning try he scored last week against the Scotts and then the sheer in your face, “back off this is my try”, when he ran best part of 80 meters to score the fourth try, including two hand offs just shows what it means to him to wear the green and gold.

Habana finally got into the scoring party with a well-rounded fifth try to add the coupe de grace to a hapless England.

Ruan Pienaar scored 20 points in the game; man of the match was two step Ricky Januarie who played a wonderful game. The Beast was an animal, both in scrummaging and defence.

The only disappointment was Pierre Spies, who again had a quiet game. It will now be up to the Super 14 to see who is the best eighth man in South Africa. The fact that the English got booed of the field again at home and The Boks got the standing ovation they deserved. England will have a huge task on Saturday to prevent the All Blacks from taking the grand slam.

Did anybody see the Wales-New Zealand Haka? The stand off at Cardiff Arm Park! (Millennium Stadium) If ever there would have been something to rattle the Blacks that would have done it. It showed, with Wales going into the Shack 9-6 up at the break.

The All Blacks just had to much fire power in the end and ran out comfortable 27-9 winners. Ireland took down the Argies 22-3. Scotland demolished Canada 41-0 to carry on in their fine form and is starting to look strong for next years Six Nations.

France was very unlucky to loose against Australia 13-18 in an enthralling test match. The Pacific Islanders beat Italy 25-17 and again it proves that with a bit of effort the IRB could get rugby to develop and get stronger amongst the smaller nations.

In cricket, South Africa thumped Bangladesh by an innings and 129 runs. Smith and Amla both got tons and Dale Steyn picket up in ninth five-wicket haul in his short career. He is the leading wicket taker this year with 59 wickets from 10 test.

With two more tests still to play it would be interesting how much he will end up on. Mitchell Johnston was the Australian hero with a 5 wicket haul in the New Zealand second innings to give his team a 1-0 lead in their two test series. India has taken the ODI series against England 4-0 with 3 to play and Sri Lanka has disposed of Zimbabwe 3-0, in Zim.

It was the first time in 86 years that none of the top five sides managed to score a goal in a premier league round. Man U and Villa drawing 0-0, Chelsea drawing 0-0 with Newcastle, Liverpool drawing 0-0 to Fulham and Arsenal losing 3-0 to the world’s richest club, Manchester City.

Arsenal seem to be in a bit of turmoil with reports that William Galas will be sold in January, after he made some damning comments about some of his team mates to a French newspaper last week. Theo Walcott will be out of action for up to three months after having undergone a shoulder operation after dislocating it with England last week.

Spurs managed a 1-0 win over Sunderland to take them out of the drop zone, well done Harry.

The best football of the weekend was played locally in the PSL. Orlando Stadium has been completed ahead of schedule and was used by three teams this weekend. First up was Pirates, and they took like a duck to water on their home field, by beating Royal Zulu 4-2 in a cracker of a game with Modise scoring a brace, adding to his two he score for Bafana against Cameroon in Rustenburg mid week.

Chiefs thumped Wits 4-1, Sundowns and Free State stars drew 1-1 as did Arrows and Celtic. SuperSport beat Amazulu 2-0 and Swallows and Starts drew 0-0. This left only 4 point separating the top 7 teams all having played 9 games.

The draw for the Confederation Cup took place over the weekend and South Africa will open the tournament against Iraq at Ellis Park on the 14th of June next year.

Bafana will then play New Zealand in Rustenburg at the same stadium that saw the Boks beat the All Blacks not so long ago at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium on the 17th and will end of the group fixture against Spain on the 20th at the Free State Stadium. It seems that 2010 is around the corner and got times for football lovers is upon us.

In ending, SARU informed us that the test tickets for the Lions series will cost R1140 per ticket. The reason for this is to accommodate the 50.000 plus Lions supporters they are expecting on tour.

I feel that this price is totally unacceptable and by the looks of things this test and the Lions provincial games will be excluded from all season tickets. What the hell to they think they are doing. Rugby is our passion and it should be a right of passage for a father to take his son to see the mighty Lions play the Springboks.

But with prices like that, they may as well ask the Lions to stay in the UK and Ireland and send the Springboks over there as there will be very few home supporters able to afford such astronomical prices.

Until next week, enjoy the next test at Centurion Park, The All Blacks taking the Grand Slam.

Cheers

ONETIME

Think beyond the horizon and you will find success!

Who's Going to Stop Chelsea?

Ian Tait — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:58:13 -0500

OK, so I don’t know what to call that what we saw on Saturday. How poor was the referee? The Scotts did not know what he wanted. John Smit has to tell him how to call a scrum engagement. We tried very hard 14,000 km away in Durban, but nothing seemed to work. He was diabolical.

To be fair, he was crap on both sides, but so poor that nobody could gain an advantage out of his game.

Yes, the game did change by having Bismarck leave the field with a grade 2 hamstring tear and Ricky Januaries starting to the Boks. The same problem happened again when he is on the field. He takes three steps before he release—no wonder our backs got the ball on the back foot. Let's just hope and pray that Fourie Du Preez will be fit for Saturday!

New Zealand thumped Ireland 22-3, Argentina beat Italy 22-14, Wales beat Canada 34-13 and France beat the Pacific Islands 42-17.

The game of the weekend was undoubtedly England vs. Australia. Although the score was well in the favour of Australia at 28-14, England could count themselves very unlucky. England were stronger at the breakdown point and had more flair in the back three, but Australia had one secret weapon—their coach.

Robbie Deans was able to read the game plan and get his charges to play accordingly. Now imagine if our brains trust had this talent.

“Rugby for Dummies” Saturday will be the biggest game for the Boks this year. The revenge game, the try that was not a try, for the simple fact the ID10T put his foot on the line. Let’s just hope that we pull it off and do the job, even if it is a win by one point.

The draw for the Super 14 came out today. Once again the Cheetahs have been screwed over with their draw. The Sharks will play the Stormers on the 14th of February, so I guess the restaurant will be quiet on Saturday, but the sports bar will be rocking.

The first game will be played in Ellis Park with the Lions and Cheetahs taking on each other on the 13th. Freaky Friday!

On Saturday the biggest derby in Africa took place when Orlando Pirates took on Kaiser Chiefs at the Mmabatho Stadium. Two stunning first half strikes by Gilbert Mushangazike put the game beyond reach for Chiefs. It is the second win in a row for the Buccaneers over the Amakozi and a very timely one as well. The win takes them to seventh, only six points behind the league leaders Golden Arrows on 18.

Arrows beat Swallows 1-0 to take top spot. Wits is in second spot on 17 points and defending champions Super Sport United in third on 14 points.

In England, if you are a Gunners fan, you must be feeling like a yoyo. How can a team play so well on Wednesday and then fall apart on the Saturday? Inconsistency was their downfall last season, and I think it will be again this year.

Liverpool were lucky again on Saturday, but that is how the cookie crumbles—ride your luck while you can. However, can they keep it up?

Chelsea are still in sublime form and still scoring goals like crazy. Man U were devastating against Stoke and thumped them properly 5-0. Spurs could not make it six in a row, going down 2-1 to Fulham, and the sooner they get rid of Gomez, the better. He is the worst goalkeeper in the EPL.

Ernie Els missed out by one stroke in Singapore. The title was claimed by up and coming Indian superstar Jeev Mikha Singh. This was his third victory on the Asian Open and looks like it is enough for him to take the order of merit title.

I am on my way to the Sun City Million Dollar and can’t wait to see some of the world’s top golfers in action. I am hoping to get to meet some of them and have some interesting stories for you.

On the cricket front, India dished out their second hiding in a row against England. Varsity 4th lost their second game in a row, losing to Delta on a goat track against Delta.

Batting first, Varsity managed to scrape together 78 all out. This was never going to be an easy target to chase as the wicket never allowed the batsmen to be in. They managed to pass the Varsity score with six wickets down on our Skipper AJ with 3 for 26 off 6 over and yours truly 3 for 11 off 3 overs managed to get any wickets.

Had we been able to support Calvin “Hobbs” with 21 and extras with 19, we might have been able to change the result. Nothing like scoring runs to put your opposition under pressure.

We until next week enjoy the sport, England vs. Springboks, the Proteas take on Bangladesh in the first for two tests on Thursday, and in the EPL, Man City host Arsenal, Villa host Man U, Liverpool host Fulham, and Spurs take on Rovers on Sunday.

Cheers

ONETIME

Arsenal Take Down Manchester United—And Other Sports This Week in Europe

Ian Tait — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:25:46 -0500

Hey readers, is it not great to see international rugby again? The Springboks got off to a solid start with a win over Wales20-15. Unfortunately Alan Roland tried his damdest to blow the Boks out of the game. His reffing was piss poor to say the least.

I am ok with a referee to have a poor game, but at least them a referee is consistently poor for both sides. However when a referee only has eyes for one team, it leaves a bitter pill in the mouths of rugby fans. What we want is consistency. Ruan Pienaar has a great half at flyhalf, our tight five was dominant, but our loose forwards let us down.

The only player in the backs that did not have a good game was Brain Habana and maybe getting dropped is what he requires. AD Jacobs and jean De Villiers scored the two tries for the Boks and Pienaar slotted the rest of the points. This weekend against the Scotts the point gap will be big and if the Scotts thought they got off lightly against the B side of New Zealand, wait until Saturday.

Australia was held to 20 all with about 20 minutes to go before they broke out against Italy to win 30-20. France beat the Argentina 12-6 in a hard but defensive game of rugby. Both sides tried their best to brake through for that elusive try, but the defensive patterns for both teams were outstanding.

England beat the Pacific Islands comfortably 39-19 and the All Blacks were just too strong for Scotland downing the Blues 32-6. Ireland thumped Canada 55-0 in a very one sided affair, go figure.

On the cricket front, Indiawrapped up the Border Gavascar Trophy 2-0 by beating Australia by 172 run in the fourth and final test. Australiahave done is again, they have found a Tim May in young JJ Krezja who took 12 wickets on debut, including eight in the first innings. If South Africa thinks they are going to have an easy time down under they must think again.

Australia will be smarting, and will be a difficult prospect. However on saying that, there will never be a better time for taking a series against them than now.

On the ODI front, Bangladesh is a joke and has been thumped for the second time. They will lose again tomorrow and go home 3-0. Our batting is positive and well done to Hash for a great ton of 140 off 135 balls.

On the Gibbs saga, it seems that Herschel did not brake his curfew but just got hammered in the team hotel. It seemed that he got to the pub at 14H00 and had to be carried out at 23H00. He was abusive to the guests and staff and team management decided enough. It seems he has a serious problem and we can only hope that he can get his life back on track.

Cricket news on the UKZN front, the first and the second side won their first games of the season against Toti. I would like to say that I think that the influence of the fourth and fifth side players played a major role in their victory. To Cassey “Jay Jennings” Chadwick, great keeping, I think Rossco is in trouble.

2-1 The Arsenal over Manchester United at the Emirates on Saturday. Yes the league is not won in November but I feel that the Red Devils and the Gunners will have to stay close to the leader. Chelsea at present is the team to beat and my favorites to take the title after another win on Sunday.

They beat Blackburn2-0 away. Liverpool beat West Brom 3-0 at home to be tied with Chelseabut are about 4 million goals behind on GD. Spurs won again beating Man City away 2-1, Pompie beat Sunderland 2-1 away, Everton beat West Ham 3-1 away, Middlesbrough beat Villa 2-1 away, Hull lost their third game in a row going down 1-0 to Bolton at home. It looks like their dream start is over. Fulham beat Newcastle 2-1 all be it with a lucky penalty award towards the end of the game. But a win is a win.

In Scotland Celtic (31) lead the championship over Rangers (29) and Dundee (19). The Dons are down in eighth place on 14 points. Again it looks like it will be a two horse race. In the Bundesliga Beyer Leverkusen and 1899 Hoffenhiem are on top with 25 points each. Bayern Munich is third on 24 points. In Italy, it is the two teams from Milanthat top the table Inter (24), AC (23) and Napoli (23) after 11 games.

For the second week in a row one of South Africa’s top golfers had to go to some obscure place to win a golf tournament. Ernie Else had to go to Rabat Moroccoto play in the King Hassan II trophy. Although he only won $150 000 the win would have done him better than the cash.

Go Ernie, you and Retief should now be set for the SA Open. Sergio Garcia went to No. 2 in the world after winning the HSBC Championship in China. All that he now needs is a Major, maybe next year will be his year.

Well until next week, enjoy the rugby and soccer

Cheers

ONETIME

Sharks Currie Cup Champions 2008

Ian Tait — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:55:23 -0400

It has taken the Sharks 12 long years but the wait was worth it. Currie Cup Champions 2008! We woke up to a grey and wet Durban. The thought of sitting in the rain and watching my beloved Sharks losing to the Blue Bulls did not sit well with me. In fact it made me feel ill.

At one stage I was running a fever with sharp shooting pains in my chest. Was this how it was going to finish a heart attack and the game had not even started. It has been a long time since I have seen Kingspark so full I recon if 500 people did not pitch up of the 52000 that was a lot.

Congratulations to the Baby Sharks for winning the U/19 Final against WP. The exacted revenge for the last encounter when they lost at Varsity to the men from Cape Town. The Sharkies ran out 31-18 champions. The Blue Bulls U/21’s beat a very spirited Cheetahs side 20-18.

Onto the main game. As a final goes it was a classic. It was never going to be pretty, but at times there was amazing ball skills no more so than when Frans Steyn went over for the second try.

The Sharks dominated ever aspect of the game. They were the strongest scrummages, the better jumpers and way quicker to the brake down points. The backline out ran and out muscled the Bulls back. The only thing that saved the Bulls from a bigger score was the great defence of the Bulls.

Ruan Pienaar out played De Preez and proved why he is the best scrum half in South Africa. His power leg drive for the try line that gave him only his fifth Currie Cup and most import try was a joy to watch. I thing my larynx broke and burnt up from the screams of joy coming from my mouth.

The overall performance was just wonderful. Victor Mattfield summed it up, “They were just to fast for us, we thought they would slow down in the last twenty and they got faster”. It was a big team effort and every player did there part and more to ensure that the millions of Shark fans will celebrate. Celebrate they did, and judging by the state of the Varsity 4th side on Sunday, I think some of them were still celebrating.

The interesting as always is our dearly beloved Springbok touring side. As every year there are surprises and gasps of “Dear lord, what were they thinking!” Earl Rose, where is Peter Grant, where is Morne Steyn. These are fly halves that played so well this season.

Why Ruan Pienaar at first five eight, he is the best half back in the country? John Smit at Tight Head. Play him at Lose Head, it is more suited to his game and let’s face it, if you have ever played in the front row, you will know you are not made into a Tight Head you are born it.

Oh yes where is Puke Watson? There are some very unlucky player not selected, Jean Deysel, Baywatch Grobler, Stephan Terblanche the best full back of the season in South Africa. Bottom line the rugby party has been selected and we can only do one thing, support our boys in Green and Gold, support our Springboks.

“Go Bokke”

Onto a little know secret also out of KZN. Who of you know about a 19 year old blond bombshell called Kathryn Meaklim. Well if you have not let me be the first to introduce you to her. She has just raked up five gold medals and the FINA World Cup of swimming in Sydney Australia. Seems like you can’t keep the Sharks out of the water.

Grant Hackett has decided to give up swimming at the age of 28 to take up a future in politics. He was one of the worlds leading long distance swimmer taking two gold’s in the 1500m and held many world records for the long distance events.

Ferrari have threatened to pull out for F1 should Max the Nazi Mosley go ahead and introduce one engine into the sport from 2010. It is time that these idiots get a grip with the times; it is not 1920 and start to understand the dynamics of the sport. If you can’t afford it don’t participate.

What would happen to SBK and Motor GP if the FIA said you can race your own maker’s power plant but only race in Honda powered bikes! What a joke, it would be like a formula Ford race. Who cares who won! Imagine a Yamaha frame with a Honda engine. It is like watching A1; it is ok, but not a Ferrari or McLaren or BMW.

Spurs finally win a game. In the coupe of the season Harry Redknapp sneaked out of Pompie and ran off to North London to try and save the day. As always when a new manager comes in a team rallies around the new man and gives the result that every home fan wants a win.

Man United were very lucky to get away with a point from Gooderson Park(Everton). Liverpool god an important win away to Chelsea 1-0 and so did Arsenal with a lucky 2-0 win away at Upton Park against West Ham. Hull won again and it still lying in third.

Congratulations must go the Christiano Ronaldo has been selected as player diverplayer of the year. Congratulations must also go to my girlfriend Ana Ivanovic for winning her first title since the French open this weekend by taking the Linz Open. Federer won his home title again for the third year in a row and young Scot Any Murray won his fifth title of the year by taking the St Petersburg Open.

I was asked to mention something about the Varsity 4th cricket side, in my weekly report, but lets just say we lost by 1 run to a bunch of school boys yesterday. Thanks Captain, when your team says we will bat if you win the toss and then do a rain dance when we finish, it means we don’t want to field first. “Just a note for next time.”

Well sports fans, until next time, have a cracking week.

ONETIME J

Sharks - Bulls Final

Ian Tait — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:30:55 -0400

With Luke “Dickhead” Watson (sorry ladies) and the SA "Idiots” Sports Council South African rugby has been in the spot light for the wrong reasons. But fortunately the ANC and the South African government has told the sports council to get lost with their idiotic idea of having the springbok removed and replace with a flower.

It is the only sporting emblem that has won not one but two world cups. What has the soccer or cricket flower pretty boys done? Nothing!

As for Watson, the only reason he got to play test rugby was because of his dad and his political past. Hence the politicians forced the South African selectors to pick Watson to wear the coveted green and gold with South Africa’s national animal the Springbuck on it. A jersey and emblem that any true South African rugby player and supporter would kill to play for!

This article just proves what a Pratt he is and if this article did not go out to so many different people there would be $%#@ and %$#(*)& and &^%* words use to describe him.

"Me having to wear the Springbok jersey, to keep myself from vomiting on it, because there is a bigger picture, because men and women have bled for me to get there. (They died for him to play for the Springboks!)

"Did I ever want to be there? No, it's never been my dream, but I chose this burden with the greatest of pride and satisfaction, knowing that my father Cheeky Watson laid down his life to get me there." (So his dad died for him to play rugby, he went in front of SAFU and they shot him so that Luke would get picked)

Luke Watson go and take your jersey and stick where the sun don’t shine. Don’t bother stepping out on a rugby field and don’t ever put on the Springbok jersey again. You are a looser and a disgrace.

If you think you are a great player think again. Every loose forward that player in the semi finals and the Currie Cup B section final have got ten times the talent that you have. Go away now and disappear.

So after all that crap, there was rugby that had to be played this weekend. On Friday night the Northern Free State Griffons won the B section final by beating the Leopards 31-26 in Olen Park. The half time score was 19-13 in the Griffons and although the home side put in a huge effort in the second half the Griffons where just too strong to clinch the title.

The Semi Finals where a given with which teams were going to go through to the finals. Free Statewhere never going to have the firepower to stop the Bulls at Loftus. The Bulls ran in three tries to one in the 31-19 victory.

At the Shark tank the game was done and dusted by half time with the Sharks going into the brake 26-7. The second half was never going to live up to the first. The Lions tried hard to get back in the game, but the defence of the Sharks was just too much and the only way the Lions could score was off a lucky bounce off the crossbar to score in the dying seconds of the game.

The final next week, will be a build up on trash talk, rugby scribes in the know telling the public of what the strengths and weakness of each team will be. How will Jonathan Kaplan handle spoiling tactics of the Bulls of the Sharks over exuberance of the Sharks defence and flirtation of the off side line.

The bottom line is there is going to be 80 minutes of tough rugby and according to a rugby insider we might be having extra time. I hope not don’t think I could handle that. A very dear friend of mine asked to be quoted on his score so Donny here you go 27-17 to the Sharks.

Fernando Alonso pulled off a double today with a superb win in Japan. Hamilton did not end with any points after a penalty due to driver’s infraction (again) alone with Massa, although Massadid manage a single championship point. Kubica driving for BMW came second with Kimi coming in third. With McLaren scoring no points Ferrari has increased its lead to seven points. Hamilton has a five point lead over Massa. Next race is next week in China.

Congratulations to Charl Schwartzel on winning his third European title in Madridtoday. He won the first ever Madrid Masters by three strokes. Rory Sabbatini shot a seven under par third round to take a one shot lead in the Valero Texan Open. Zack Johnston is his closest challenger and hopefully Rory can make it a double for South Africa this weekend.

On the soccer scene Bafana Bafana finally won a game by beating Equatorial Guinea 0-1 in Malabo. England beat the mighty Kazakhstan 5-1 at Wembley, France drew 2-2 in Romania, Germany beat Russia 2-1, Italy drew 0-0 with Bulgaria and Scotland drew 0-0 with Norway.

Super Sport announced the death this morning of Afrikaans Rugby commentator Chris Moller (I stand corrected on the spelling). He was killed in a head of collision this morning driving to the airport in Durban. Condolences to his family and friends. Rugby has lost a son and is a richer game for the input that you gave it. May you rest in peace.

Until next week. Take care and enjoy the sport. I will have update of the Indian cricket tour and results of the first test along with more on the Luke I am a little cry baby saga.

Cheers

Think beyond the horizon and you will find success!

Sharks Book Top Spot as Currie Cup Season Comes to an End

Ian Tait — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:25:28 -0400

This weekend will see the culmination of a Currie Cup season that has been the closest in years. It is also a replay of all the semifinals from last season. The only difference is that the Sharks ended first this year, and the Bulls second on the log.

Saturday 14H30 will see the Sharks take on the Lions at Kings Park, with Marc Lawrence taking charge of the game. The Blue Bulls will host the Cheetahs at Loftus, with Craig Joubert taking charge up in P Town at 17H00. These are going to be very intense and close games with maybe a 10-point spread in each game.

I don’t see the Cheetahs or Lions having the firepower to go through and the final seems destined for Kings Park, with a repeat of last year's Super 14 final. Hopefully this time the Sharks will end up victorious, but that is still three weeks away.

The rugby has been of the highest quality, and hopefully it will stay this way until the season is complete.

Results from this weekend are as follows:

Blue Bulls downed the Valke 22-20, but to be fair they did play their B side. Free State beat the plucky wine farmers from the Boland 50-40 in a very exciting game. A full-strength Sharks demolished the Onion Farmers from Kimberly 66-12.

Western Problems were always fighting a losing battle and would have to have played exceptional rugby to qualify for the semis. However, the Lions never allowed them to and although they lost 14-6 to Province they did enough to qualify.

After a wonderful exhibition of football when Arsenal thumped FC Porto 4-0, they were lucky to get a point against Sunderland with a 1-1 draw. Man United also left in late to get a 2-0 win away to Blackburn Rover.

The comeback of the weekend was by Liverpool who were 2-0 down against the new richest soccer club in the world, Manchester City, and came back to win 3-2. Chelsea was too strong for Aston Villa, beating them 2-0. Newcastle and Everton got vital points by drawing 2-2, but Spurs stumbled again losing to giant killers Hull 1-0 at home.

Chelsea and Liverpool are still joint top leaders, but Hull has moved into third, three points behind the leaders. Spurs are at the bottom of the log with two points; Stoke has four and Newcastle on five. It would be very sad to see Spurs and Newcastle relegated if they carry on in this form.

On the local seen (and local is lekker), the PSL is also very close at the top. Defending champions Super Port beat Royal Zulus 2-1 away. The Birds downed the Chiefs 2-0, Sundowns were mauled 4-2 at home to Golden Arrows, Pirates drew with Santos 1-1, and in the local derby Maritzburg United beat Amazulu 2-1 at home. (Casey, you and I were both wrong.)

The log is still pretty close at the top, with Super Sport and The Clever Boys on top with 10 points and PMB United and Arrows in second place on eight points. Chiefs, Pirates, and Celtic make up the bottom three of log. This could be a very rocky season for the two biggest clubs in Africa.

The Super Sport four-day cricket championship got off this weekend. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, the weather intervened and prevented a probable victory over the Titans. The Eagles beat the Cobras in Kimberly and the Lions beat the Warriors at the Wanders.

Sehwag of India has put his you know what on the line by claiming that India will beat Australia 3-1 in their upcoming test series. Brave words from the opening batsman! It will be a very interesting series and I am certainly looking forward to watching it.

Just some feedback from me on the first cricket game in years last weekend playing for UKZN against a loaded team of Tophem. Batting first, Tophem made 237 of 30 overs, playing five of their Premier players, including two opening bowlers. The task seemed impossible for the plucky Varsity fourth side that was still unbeaten at the time.

However, after getting off to a steady start losing our opener to a Hail Mary of a catch by the keeper, all hell broke lose. Calvin scored 50 off 50 and Lutz blazed an unbeaten 148 off 86 balls, including a second 50 off 18 balls to reach his 100 off 68 balls.

On the South African rally scene, it is with sadness that I must report that Paul Pfeiffer died in the Western Cape Blue Crane Rally. The reports that have come through say that he hit a ditch and put his car into a dam.

The co-driver was rescued, but the rescuers were not able to retrieve Paul. When they did find him he had no pulse and was pronounced DOA at hospital. In the Motor GP Casey Stoner beat new world champion Valentino Rossi by six seconds in his home GP at Philip Island in Australia.

Anyway, until next week, enjoy the sport and stay fit.

I have a request from you avid readers. Please can you send me through an English XI soccer team from the premiership? The players do not have to be English, and no they cannot all come from Man U or Liverpool. I would be interested to see who comes up with the best team.

ONETIME

Think beyond the horizon and you will find success!